Jamal Woodson recalled a time he had $2 for the week for food.

“I bought a $1 loaf of bread and a $1 bottle of hot sauce and made sandwiches for the week,” the Murrysville resident said. “I added water and toasted the bread. It was a feeling I don’t wish on anyone. So many people live paycheck to paycheck, and one major bill can cause a financial hardship.”

A loaf of bread is one of the items Woodson uses as a way to feed other people, both physically and financially.

On a recent Monday, he walked into the Giant Eagle on Pittsburgh’s North Side, picked up a loaf of bread and asked shoppers if they would buy it for him. The first three said no. A fourth, Ashley from the North Side, said she would. Ashley declined to give her last name.

He then told her he didn’t need the money.

This was a social experiment he was conducting to see whether someone would help him. He approaches people he doesn’t know and asks them for a loaf of bread or $1. He said he uses an item like bread because it’s more of a necessary food versus ice cream or cookies.

Woodson told Ashley he didn’t need the money for bread or for any food. He then handed her $100. That’s what he does — if someone is willing to help him, he gives them money.

Ashley said she couldn’t believe this was happening. They talked and after she told him she was a single mother of seven children, he gave her an additional $100.

His videographer, Denzel Jackson, captured the scene. He tries not to be noticed by walking down a different aisle than Woodson and shooting through racks of food items.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Ashley said. “You don’t realize how much you helped me.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jamal Woodson (@exclusivejamal)

The money comes from Woodson’s own pocket. He is the director of SLAAM Basketball, a top amateur athletic union program, and is general sales manager for the radio station WAMO 107.3.

He said he pays his bills and gives some of the money he has left to others. He has been doing this since the pandemic.

On June 25, his birthday, he gave $1,000 to two people.

Woodson said he plans to invite people to film themselves giving money to someone. He will then choose one person’s video and reward them with $1,000. He hopes it encourages people to do random acts of kindness, he said.

“God has a plan for me to do this,” said Woodson, who calls himself “The Give Back Kid.” You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jamal Woodson (@exclusivejamal)

He once disguised himself as a homeless man outside Rodman Street Baptist Church in East Liberty and counted the people from the congregation who gave him money. At the end of the service, he gave each of them $100.

Courtesy of Denzel Jackson Jamal Woodson sits in front of a church in East Liberty disguised as a homeless man.  

Another time, he helped a woman who lost everything in an apartment fire. He and some of the girls who play basketball for him helped raise money for the woman. They presented her with gifts to help her get back on her feet.

Yet another time, Woodson paid for everyone’s gas at a gas station — 150 people lined up. He filled every tank.

On one occasion, he announced to shoppers at Kuhn’s Market on the North Side that he was going to pay for everyone’s groceries. He spent $3,750 that day.

He returned to Kuhn’s Market after he left the Giant Eagle that day. He approached a senior in the parking lot who was loading groceries into her car. He asked her for $1. She gave him $5.

He handed her money back to her and then proceeded to give her $100.

Inside the store, he approached two women who said they would each give him the $1 he needed. He pulled out $300 and gave $100 to each woman and another $100 to a man he talked to who was in line at the checkout.

One of the women said it was her last $1, but she said she thought, “What if that was me?”

“He had to put his pride aside to ask me for $1,” she said. “It’s about helping somebody. Every little bit counts.”

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop | Tribune-Review Jamal Woodson, known as “The Give Back Kid,” shows cash he was about to give away July 3 inside the Kuhn’s Market on the North Side.  

Woodson said he can’t put a price on how good this makes him feel. He said their reaction is everything to him. You can see their gratitude through their hugs and tears.

Watching Ashley, the single mother of seven, cry affected him emotionally, he said.

“I got you,” Woodson said. “Take care of yourself and your kids.”

He then handed her another $100.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---