A cafe owner is searching for a woman who stunned staff with a random act of kindness by leaving a mysterious note and a generous tip before walking off.
The woman handed over a £20 note with a star-shaped Post-it to the first waitress she saw and then left without buying anything.
The note read: “A random act of kindness, in memory of Mia, age 7, who died on 1st May 2014”
Staff at The Buffet Box in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire had never seen her before but believed she was a local.
And the girl mentioned on the note has no known connection to anyone working at the cafe.
Waitress Danielle Waddell, 24, from Cumbernauld said she was left baffled by the random act of kindness.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it. I thought that she was just another customer but she came up to me and told me that the money was for the next few customers coffees.
“I was so confused and didn’t know what to do with it that. I decided to go to the back and leave it with the owner before taking the next customer.
“She didn’t give her name and I’d never seen her before. By the time I had read the note she was already gone and she didn’t even place an order.
“I don’t have a clue about who Mia was but it would be great if more people did stuff like this for others.”
Owner Alan Kirkwood, 47, from Glasgow said: “We were all hit for six. It’s the sort of gesture which restores your faith in humanity that someone has gone out of their way to do something nice for others.
“A lot of my staff keep saying amongst themselves that they’ve seen her again but no one can even remember what she looks like. She was just a seemingly ordinary woman.”
“90 per cent of our customers are on first name terms with us and if you’re not then you get a nickname – hers is ‘Charity Lady’.
“We have a couple of charity boxes here at the cafe and, after much thought, decided to double the money and give it to them in memory of Mia.
“No one here has heard of Mia and we don’t know what her relationship to the woman was but it’s such a nice way to pay tribute to someone.
“She gave no explanation or reason behind her random act of kindness but we hope to pass on some of that good karma.”
The charities which will be benefiting from the good deed are Yorkhill Children’s Hospital and The Anthony Nolan Trust for Blood Cancer.
The post on the cafe’s Facebook page earned 20 times as many views compared to the usual posts as more than 2,000 people saw the mystery woman’s generosity.
