(AP) — During her two decades living in Houston, Caroline Oliver, like any urban dweller, frequently encountered people in the streets asking for money. She struggled with how to respond. She wanted to help, but in a useful way.

And so when Oliver read about the New York police officer who was photographed giving a new pair of all-weather boots to a barefoot man on a cold street, she was moved.

“He saw a need and he provided for that need,” she says. “He couldn’t just walk away.”