This photo tells the story of an act of kindness credited with finding a homeless man a place to stay in the cold of winter.

A sheriff's deputy spotted an unidentified homeless man alone in the cold midwestern weather. Sergeant Depuy gave the man a ride to a nearby McDonald's, where he asked the staff to let him stay inside to get warm.

Alex Fischbach was watching the scene when he said the lawman pulled some money out of his pocket and told the homeless man to buy something to eat.

"The man tried to refuse but the officer said, ‘I'm not asking you to take it, I'm telling you to take it.'" Fischbach wrote on his Facebook page.

Fischbach says the two shook hands before the officer left. He snapped a photo as the sergeant left, and says he was touched that the officer wasn't looking for "gratitude or recognition."

This picture is a quick snap of one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. We pulled up to the McDonalds in...

Posted by Alex Fischbach on Saturday, January 2, 2016

This picture is a quick snap of one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. We pulled up to the McDonalds in...

The photo on Facebook was quickly shared around Morrison, Illinois, and a pastor located the homeless man — identifiable by his coat in the photo — and took him to a nearby shelter run by a church.

Sergeant Dupuy says he was just doing his job.

"He was basically just…showing that police officers have hearts," the Whiteside County Sheriff's Department spokesman told ABC News. "It goes on often, but someone caught it which is nice. It's recognition for doing a good deed."