We often hear about the police in the news but in many cases, it is not necessarily something that is worthy of our attention. Unfortunately, the news often tends to put a negative slant on the men in blue, but as you are about to see, it is something that is not often warranted. That is seen clearly in the case of officer Mike Kelly, who worked as a security officer for a side job at Walmart. He was responsible to keep criminals from getting away with stealing anything and stopping anything unusual from taking place. When he started out the shift on this particular day, it seemed perfectly normal.
Families came in and out of the store regularly, as they often do. The employees were welcoming them and the parking lot was full of people working in various aspects. Officer Kelly took a moment to slow down and pay attention to what was going on with the shoppers inside. That is when he saw something that he couldn’t ignore and we are thankful that we can report the story.
When officer Kelly opened his eyes to really see what was going on, he saw a father and his four children struggling at the checkout line. He didn’t know if it was a technical problem or if the man didn’t have enough money to pay for the items but he knew that he had to do something to help.
The police officer told the following to a local news station:
“I just felt God telling me, saying, ‘Just go help him.’ [I’m] getting extra money to be there and I’m just like, are these people going to go hungry when I’m just sitting here making a little extra money for myself?
… I’m looking down at the little girl, and the little girls looking up to her dad, and I look in the [shopping cart.] It’s just Ramen noodles. I don’t know if it’s a financial thing, or if the card just didn’t work.”
Another shopper who was in the line, Jermaine Bowe said that the police officer was kind enough to pull $80 out of his wallet to cover the bill. He decided that he had to share what he saw on Facebook and he wanted people to identify the officer who went back to work without wanting any recognition.
“Just witnessed another extraordinary act by our men and women in uniform. A police officer paid for the groceries of a customer here at Walmart. The best part, the customer told the police officer ‘God bless you,’ and the police officer responded, ‘I am already blessed.’ I love it.”
Officer Kelly often sees the dark side of things when he is working the streets. There are people who have a difficulty making ends meet and sometimes, they are on the brink of starvation. He also sees many people who are addicted to dangerous drugs and those who have a difficulty escaping the lifestyle associated with crime.
Through it all, he tries to keep a level head but sometimes the statistics can really get to you. That is why he decided he wanted to help this family fill their stomachs.
“We see stuff that we like to forget. When some kids are really hungry. Some kids live in bad situations. It’s hard to leave [those images] at work sometimes.”
Everybody is looking at him as if he is a hero but he says that he is not the hero that everybody sees. He just wants to spread a little bit of love when he has the opportunity to do it.
“Look for somebody to help there’s someone around all the time to help maybe just food but maybe something else maybe just go up and talk to them.”
All of us could have a little bit of this kindness in our heart. We may not be able to do the same thing that he did all of the time but even doing something small does make a difference.
You can learn more about his kind act in this video: