A local family got a surprise Wednesday morning when representatives from a Hillsboro business offered to pay for their cart full of groceries.
“This is so great,” Jeanette Seymour said as the groceries were checked out and bagged. “You’re not just helping us. You’re helping our whole family.”
Her husband, John, said that his initial reaction was simply “surprised” when Melissa Lutz, CashMax district manager, approached them.
John is a retired truck driver. His wife said that they used to travel together when he was on the road.
After Lutz offered to purchase the groceries, Jeannette told her that they were in the store to pick up some “necessities,” and that she had forgotten her list at home.
Lutz suggested that if the Seymours could think of anything on the list to pick it up and meet her, Hillsboro CashMax Manager Melissa Combs, and Assistant Manager Heidi Edwards at the registers.
About 10 minutes later, the Seymours were checking out an array of items.
“It’s like we’re getting paid back a little bit for what we give,” Jeanette said, adding that they have helped their children at different times. As an example, she said their daughter is currently living with them while she gets a new job.
“It’s kind of like one of those good karma things,” she added.
The Seymours were selected after Lutz, Combs, and Edwards strolled through Walmart for several minutes, looking for a shopper with a full cart of groceries.
Lutz said that they try to find someone who is a veteran, who is elderly, or who is a mother with several children. Or, she said, they try to find someone with a list, which would indicate that they are on a budget.
“You just want to get that person who you know this will make their day,” Lutz said. “Sometimes it takes a while.”
The first person that the three approached Wednesday turned down their offer, saying that there were others who needed the help more than him.
“Every once in a while you’ll run into somebody (who says), ‘No, don’t help me. I’m OK. Help somebody else,’” Lutz said.
Wednesday’s grocery trip, she added, is part of CashMax’s Pay It Forward campaign.
The program began over a year ago, Lutz said, when CashMax employees would go to drive-thrus and pay for the order of the car behind them.
CashMax has a total of 42 stores in Ohio. Every Wednesday, one of those stores buys groceries for a local family. “And this is Hillsboro’s week to do it,” Lutz said.
Reach Sarah Allen at 937-393-3456, ext. 1680, or on Twitter @SarahAllenHTG.
