A Texas teenager’s kindness is encouraging others to pay it forward after he covered the tab of a Walmart shopper who wasn’t able to pay her grocery bill at the register.
John Lopez Jr., 19, took a job at a Princeton, Texas, Walmart in March to earn money to help pay for college, CBS Dallas reports. During his shift on Monday night, a shopper named Laci Simms spotted Lopez, who was working at the register, pay for another customer’s full cart of merchandise.
Simms snapped a photo of Lopez in action and used Facebook to praise the teenager, who “renewed her faith in humanity.”
“I just witnessed this ‘kid’ pay for a cart of merchandise for a woman in obvious distress about her inability to pay,” Simms said. “She was a few people ahead of us and when she had trouble paying her bill he stepped in and told her if she’d wait he would pay her total.”
Many people commented on Simmons’s post, which has nearly 3,000 shares as of Saturday, to applaud Lopez’s kind deed.
“Kindness goes a long way. … Hopefully his kindness is returned 10x over in his lifetime!” one person wrote.
“Awesome John! This crazy world needs more people like you!” another added.
Lopez told CBS Dallas that the woman in line “started crying, and I was like, ‘OK, I got you. I got you.’ I just felt in my heart that the Lord told me I had to help her.”
His generosity hasn’t gone unnoticed. A GoFundMe campaign was started in Lopez’s name after a man named Brandon Weddle came across the story. On the fundraising site, Weddle wrote that he wants to help cover the 19-year-old’s college tuition to “make his Christmas the best ever!”
“He gave selflessly. It was made public. The comments that I’ve seen about this gentleman [are] extraordinary,” Weddle wrote. “He touches a lot of lives on a daily basis. I’d like to give back to him for constantly giving himself to our community.”
Lopez explained he was carrying out the values his parents instilled in him.
“My parents basically taught me if someone needs help, you should be able to help them, and if someone is down, bring them up,” he told CBS Dallas.
Walmart praised Lopez for his selflessness in a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Our associates are special and John’s actions are a perfect example. Those who know John wouldn’t be surprised. He’s a kind, generous person and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle
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