A 16-year old boy who took a bus to carry groceries in exchange for food has more than he bargained for, as a GoFundMe effort has raised more than $235,000 for the teen and his disabled mother.

On June 9, Memphis resident Matt White posted on Facebook about Chauncy Jones Black, who had taken a bus across the city to “the rich people’s Kroger.” Black’s goal was to offer to carry groceries in exchange for donuts.

According to White, Black is “the most inspiring person ever,” and after buying groceries for the boy, White gave him a ride home. It was there that the stark poverty facing Black hit White:

He wasn’t kidding. He and his mom had nothing. They didn’t even have beds or furniture. They were sleeping on pads made out of sleeping bags, they had two lamps and nothing in their fridge.

Nothing. His mother was so sweet but very fragile. I couldn’t tell what it was, but she had some sort of physical and/ or mental disability that made her shake and made walking difficult. I thought I was going to cry. As we unpacked the food into their kitchen, you could see the hope coming back into Chauncy’s eyes. He knew he wasn’t going to be hungry. He looked like a kid again. As I was leaving I gave him a hug and told him how much God loved him and that he was going to grow up to be an incredible man. I’ll never forget that hug. It meant more to me than any possession I have. Our God is an awesome God, and we can never be thankful enough for the blessings we have.

Four days later, Matt created a GoFundMe page for Black and his mother, hoping to at least raise enough funds for the teen to be able to start his own lawn mowing business.Now, their goals include setting up a fund for Black’s education, purchasing his mother new teeth and moving them to a new home. As of this writing, almost 10,000 people have donated money to a teen who said he wants to own a business, but was so poor that he hadn’t had new clothes in three years.

In a video uploaded yesterday by White, Black and his mother expressed gratitude to those who had donated. In another, Black’s mother showed off new clothes she and White had just purchased, and when asked what she really wants, the disabled mother said she wants two German Shepherds named Thor and Wonder Woman.

White said he is taking precautions to protect Black and his mother, including taking their address off the GoFundMe page and getting them “professional advice on what to do with their money, depending on their needs.” He and the boy also appear to be becoming friends, even beyond helping the teen realize his dreams.

“I live to fulfill God’s heart and God has a heart for the fatherless and for the needy,” White told ABC News. “The focus of this is not me and what I did, because I really didn’t do anything. I just captured a story and put it online but our community, Memphis, picked up this family and put them on a platform.”

“It’s getting up. It’s getting up, we getting better now,” Black says.