PLANT CITY, Fla. — Random acts of kindness can go a long way.

What You Need To Know

  • Travis Settineri quit his job as a barber to dedicate his life to spreading kindness through his YouTube channel

  • His channel, Travis Doodles, has amassed millions of views, specifically on his videos with his newfound friend, Rhonda McDaris

  • Settineri and McDaris met outside a Publix last year and since that meeting, Settineri has raised enough money to completely renovate her home

  • Settineri now plans to continue his YouTube channel and begin a mobile barber shop where he will cut homeless people's hair around the Bay area

For Travis Settineri, kindness was how he began spending most days with a person who, roughly four months ago, was a complete stranger to him.

“It’s just really peaceful to spend quality time together,” Settineri, a former barber turned YouTuber, said as he pushed his newfound friend in a wheelchair in her neighborhood in Plant City.

It’s peace for two lives that have changed wholeheartedly since the two met in December 2022.

Settineri's mission since quitting his job cutting hair was to spread kindness and joy online with his channel, Travis Doodles.

It was during that time that he met Rhonda McDaris at a Publix.

“I was having a bad day, and I was out of food, so I was asking if I could get a couple dollars for food,” McDaris said.

Settineri says McDaris initially was hesitant to talk with him, but he said he would offer to buy her food inside.

“I didn’t think he’d come back, but after 30 minutes, he came back,” McDaris said.

Not only did Settineri buy a bunch of items, but he gave McDaris 200 extra bucks to go with it.

“We’ve become good friends,” she said. “Very, very good friends.”

Their friendship changed in a big way after Settineri posted a video to his YouTube channel where he saw McDaris crossing the street and cars weren’t stopping for her.

He had his camera on hand to document it and ran out to make sure she was safe.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what is she doing?’” Settineri recalled. “So, I went out into traffic to try and help her.”

After that, she showed him her house, which was an old blue bus in a trailer park in Plant City.

“He liked my bus; it needed a lot of work done on it,” McDaris said.

It’s a video many people might have already seen, because it’s been viewed over 100 million times.

“That’s when we totally changed everything,” Settineri said.

Now, McDaris gets fan mail weekly from all over the world.

“I mean, she’s an internet sensation,” Settineri said.

“I still don’t understand it all,” said McDaris.

In response to her new online fame, Settineri started receiving donations for McDaris, so he took all that money and put it into renovating her bus into a brand new home.

For McDaris, it’s surreal every time she goes inside her remodeled bus, from its shower to its new flooring.

And none of this would have happened if not for a chance encounter.

“It’s just really a wonderful feeling,” McDaris said. “It changed my whole life for the good.”

Whether it leads to a new home or a new lifelong friend.

Settineri also helped pay for McDaris to get prosthetic legs.

Donations can still be made to Settineri’s nonprofit, Travis Doodles, where he helps McDaris and others around Florida.