NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana-- A 21-year-old University of Alabama senior was looking to cheer on her favorite team in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, but she couldn't turn her eyes away from someone in need.
Chelsea Brentzel was walking in the street when a stranger asked her and her friend for money, according to a report from AL.com affiliate .
Instead of providing cash, she offered to buy him a meal.
They walked into a Subway, where a manager asked "why are you buying this son of a bitch food?"
Brentzel was horrified and encouraged the homeless veteran to place his order for a roast beef sandwich, piled high with veggies.
The manager had also been asked by the homeless man for money.
"I just kept walking," the manager said.
Brentzel told the manager to be kind and was helped by other employees.
"People are going to be mean," she told the homeless man. "And you need to somehow find kindness in your heart."
Even after she arrived home in Spanish Fort, Ala., Brentzel said the words the manager said to the homeless man echoed in her mind. "You don't deserve to eat."
She , telling her story and asking that Subway donate food to the homeless in New Orleans.
The petition gained steam, with hundreds of signatures.
Subway agreed to donate two party platters to the homeless, which would feed about 20 people.
That doesn't satisfy Brentzel. "If they really cared, they would do more about the situation."
Brentzel works as a waitress at Cracker Barrel and formerly interned at FOX10, which gave her the experience to know she should speak up.
"I didn't have an agenda. I knew the power of the media because I am someone who hopes to be a journalist after I graduate in May," said Brentzel to Alabama Media Group early Sunday.
Updated to include the quote from Ms. Brentzel.