Father Of 4 Has Card Declined Buying Groceries Then Sees Cop Rushing Over

Oct 26, 2021

There can be a lot of negativity in the world, but fortunately, there are some genuinely good people out there that still show just how beautiful humanity can really be. These are the kind of people that have realized that a small act of kindness can go a long way for someone in need. One police officer from Tennessee learned that when he offered to help out a father of four in May 2018. 

The father was trying to get his grocery shopping done with his kids in tow but faced some issues when it came time to pay at the self-checkout lane. The man’s card was declined. At that moment, Mike Kelly — a police officer with the Cleveland City Police Department — rushed over to see what was going on. Kelly noticed that the stranger’s children were incredibly well-behaved and felt bad that the father appeared to be struggling with his finances.

Kelly had been on duty during this time working security at Wal-Mart, the place where the family was shopping, to pick up some extra cash. The officer wanted to do something to help the family out so they would be able to take their much-needed groceries home. He rushed over and kindly offered to pay for everything the family was trying to buy.

A stranger at the store noticed the encounter and captured the heartwarming moment, sharing it on social media, where it instantly went viral. Read on to find out more about this beautiful act of kindness one officer did for a family in his community.

Speaking with Inside Edition in May 2018, Kelly explained that he had been working security at Wal-Mart to make some extra cash when he noticed a father and his four children. The family had stopped at the self-checkout to pay for their groceries, but the father’s card was declined. Kelly explained to the news outlet:

“They went to self-checkout and he went to put his card in ... The attendant says, ‘I am sorry.’ They start walking out.”

The officer noticed that the kids were extremely well-behaved, and it was one of their faces that caught his attention. “The little girl’s face got me, her eyes were welling up and it broke my heart. I felt God telling me, ‘I put you up here for a reason,'" he said. At that moment, he knew he needed to do something to help this family out, so he walked up to the dad and said, “Please let me bless you today.” The family then re-rang up their groceries, and Kelly even bought some candy for the children.

A stranger at the store noticed the kind-hearted moment, not knowing who the people were, and posted about it on Facebook, where the post instantly went viral. The person had written:

"Just noticed 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." 

The Cleveland City Police Department shared the post and confirmed that Kelly was, in fact, the officer in the picture. The department wrote:

"Scrolling through random Facebook posts and then see this one that makes us ALL proud to be Cleveland police officers. After a “he’s 6’5 and buff” description, we narrowed it down to our tallest officers and deducted it was School Resource Officer Mike Kelly.

"It is guaranteed that Kelly wouldn’t want the credit from this, but it’s these random acts of kindness that inspire US ALL to be kind to others!"

Kelly admitted that he didn’t want any attention for his generous action; he just wanted to help out the people in his community. “I think anyone in our department probably [would] have done that,” Kelly told Inside Edition. He added:

“It’s important to show acts of kindness. It doesn’t have to be money. It just changes people’s lives for the good.”

What an incredible story of a stranger helping out another person after they saw they were in a time of need. Kelly is right in that it's integral to the betterment of our societies that we not only do such acts for others but that we show them as well. It just takes seeing a kind moment such as this to inspire someone else to do a good deed of their own and then the cycle can keep on going. Officer Kelly should be proud of himself and may this story continue to inspire others out there to do good deeds of their own.

What did you think about this officer’s act of kindness? Have you ever helped someone in your community? Be sure to pass this along to your loved ones, too.