Jose Villarruel, called Mr. V when he taught Steven Nava, was shocked by his former student's generosity. "My first thought was , "Am I dreaming?" Steven noticed a man who looked familiar one day and it turned out to be a substitute teacher he had in school.
Nava said he remembers Villarruel helping him. "I said to him you helped me work on my study guide and you helped me eventually pass a math test," he said. Nava initially gave Villarruel $300, and then decided to start a GoFundMe page to help Villarruel get back on his feet. He shared it all over social media and the story went viral on TikTok with over 1.7 million views. That turned into $27,000 that he's now given to Mr V!