LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — Sometimes, the people who make the biggest difference in our lives are the people we never planned to meet.
For Dara, it started with a porch.
She was walking home from work on a hot day in Lake Worth Beach when she decided she needed a break. Tired and carrying a lot on her mind, she spotted a stranger's home and made a simple request: Could she sit on the porch and eat her lunch?
WATCH BELOW: Wendy's worker asks to sit on stranger's porch — now they're best friends
That stranger was Abigail Mwaungulu, and Abigail said yes.
Neither woman could have known at the time that those few minutes would turn into an unexpected friendship — or that more than a million people would eventually watch the moment unfold online.
The encounter was captured on Abigail's Ring camera.
In the footage, Dara approaches the home and asks if she can sit on the porch during her break.
For Dara, it was simply a moment when she needed somewhere to breathe.
"I was having a bad day, and I asked to sit on her porch," Dara said. "A lot was on my mind."
But once Abigail welcomed her onto the porch, Dara said her worries temporarily faded.
"The only thing I was thinking about at the moment was, I can't believe she said yes," she said. "So I was just relieved, and I forgot about everything else."
There was just one thing Dara didn't know: Abigail was having a rough day, too.
Abigail was working when she received the unexpected visitor notification on her Ring camera; at first, she was confused.
"I looked at my Ring. I was working, I was in a meeting, and I was like, when did I order Wendy's?" Abigail recalled.
There was a woman standing outside her home with a food bag and a headset.
But Abigail decided to go with the flow, and in that moment, she recognized something familiar.
"I was having a rough day as well, and I wanted someone to be kind to me as I wish I had received," Abigail said. "So I was like, if I'm not getting it, I can give it to someone."
So she said yes.
That simple decision would become one of the easiest and most meaningful decisions she made that day.
What could have been a brief interaction between two strangers turned into a conversation, then another conversation, and eventually, a friendship.
Abigail said she quickly realized there was something special about Dara.
She learned about Dara's work, her determination and her hopes for the future. She also learned that Dara was walking to work every day.
The more Abigail thought about their conversation, the more she wanted to do something for her new friend, so she went shopping at Target. Abigail began filling a cart with things she thought Dara could use.
"She needs a water bottle. She needs an umbrella for walking," Abigail recalled.
The result was a gift basket.
And when Dara returned to the porch, she had no idea what was waiting for her.
Dara remembers the moment Abigail approached her with the gift basket.
But before she knew what was happening, she was worried the conversation was about to go in a very different direction.
"I thought she was going to say, 'Don't ever do that ever again,'" Dara said.
Instead, Abigail had much bigger news.
She told Dara that she had shared their unexpected encounter on TikTok, and people couldn't get enough of it.
More than one million people watched the video, and then came the messages. People wanted to know how they could help Dara.
So Abigail created a GoFundMe account — with Dara's permission — hoping to raise $10,000.
The response far exceeded that goal; the fundraiser has now brought in more than $17,000 in donations.
Dara is still processing the fact that a decision she made on a difficult day led to thousands of strangers rooting for her.
She said one of the biggest things the experience has given her is hope.
"A car, definitely a car," Dara said when asked how she might use the money.
Reliable transportation could make getting to work easier. She also hopes some of the money could help her continue her education and move toward a career where she can help others.
But for Dara, the significance goes beyond what the money can buy.
"That one gesture can change it," she said. "Cause it gave me hope."
And now, Dara hopes she can eventually pass that feeling along to someone else.
The friendship that started with a woman asking to sit on a porch now includes plenty of laughter.
Abigail describes the two as "two peas in a pod." And apparently, their friendship comes with a growing list of adventures, including swimming lessons!
"Eventually, we're going to learn swimming lessons, right?" Abigail asked Dara.
Dara responded with a long, very telling pause. Apparently, even after a million TikTok views, a surprise gift basket and more than $17,000 raised by complete strangers, learning how to swim is still a work in progress.
For now, though, the two women are enjoying the friendship that neither of them expected.
Click here if you are interested in contributing to Dara's future.
