Struggling Veteran Is Unable To Buy A Lot Of Groceries Until Stranger Tells Him It's Their Turn

Oct 21, 2021 by apost team

It’s always a great idea to do something nice for someone else. Performing random acts of kindness not only makes the person doing the act feel good, but it can also tremendously help the person on the receiving end. A news team decided to enact their Surprise Squad to help pay for a few customers’ groceries at a local grocery store in the Las Vegas area, only to find that they helped a hero.

Teaming up with Albertsons and Vons grocery stores, Dave Hall and the Surprise Squad from Fox 5 decided to spread some joy and kindness to the world by offering to pay for a handful of grocery bills for a few customers at Albertsons back in August 2017. They paid for some frequent customers who had run some large bills and also a few people who were low on cash. The Fox 5 Surprise Squad then agreed to help a customer and her husband’s friend, who turned out to both be veterans. They had been struggling financially and barely put anything on the check-out conveyor belt.

Men and women who serve make courageous and sacrificial decisions. Despite being seen as heroes by many, many veterans still experience hardships when they return home, as they may not have any benefits, and they may not have a way to make ends meet. After only putting two items on the check-out conveyor belt, a veteran received some financial help from the Surprise Squad, who had stepped in and offered to pay for the groceries he needed.

Helping Those Who Served

The Fox 5 Surprise Squad’s motto is “no man or woman left behind,” and they proved to live up to their mantra when they encountered two veterans at a grocery store in Las Vegas back in August 2017. They met a disabled veteran by the name of Stephanie Sieverding who had been buying food for herself and her dogs. She admitted to Hall that she was on her last $50. Fortunately, Hall paid for the entire cost of her groceries before he noticed the man standing behind the grateful woman.

The man’s name was Larry Robeson, and he was also a veteran and a friend of Sieverding’s husband. He put down just two items on the check-out conveyor belt. “You served us, it’s our turn to serve you now,” Hall told Robeson and took the man on a full grocery shopping trip. Robeson grew extremely emotional and wiped his tears away as he shopped for food and necessities. 

He explained that he started a club called Bones for Blankets 16 years prior that is focused on delivering blankets to homeless veterans. After his three brothers froze to death, Robeson wanted to make a difference and got to work helping other veterans as much as possible with his club. “We try to do good things for good people, Larry, so you deserve this,” Hall told Robeson, who was still incredibly emotional and in disbelief.

After putting up an entire cartful of groceries, Robeson’s bill came to $278.55, the highest grocery bill he has ever accumulated. The Fox 5 Surprise Squad gratefully paid for it, repaying Robeson for his service to his country and his community.

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The Surprise Squad’s story has since gone viral, accumulating more than a million views on YouTube — not to mention the hundreds of positive comments. While some viewers took the opportunity to thank the veterans for their service, others said that the video was eye-opening.

“Broke my heart when he said some of his friends froze to death. I'm going to buy some blankets. I encourage others to do the same and give them to the homeless,” one viewer commented.

“Every service man/woman deserves the respect, support & admiration of us civilians. They do so much for us and ask nothing in return,” another viewer wrote.

One viewer even claims to have worked at the same Albertsons that’s featured in the video.

“I work at this Albertsons, and I remember the day this happened, and it never fails to make me cry,” Thomas Bonifacio wrote.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 21 out of every 10,000 veterans were homeless in 2019, which is slightly higher than the overall rate of homelessness.  With that said, the organization points out that there are some reasons to be hopeful. 
“Within a decade (2010-2019), America’s number of homeless veterans was roughly cut in half. The reduction from 74,087  to 37,085 veterans experiencing homelessness far exceeded the progress realized by chronically homeless individuals and all other subpopulations,” the organization writes.

However, there’s still work to be done, and Robeson’s charity organization continues to make a difference in his community.

“Larry, thank you sir for your service to this country, and to your continued service to our veterans. You are an amazing person,” another viewer wrote.

What did you think about this emotional story? Have you ever offered to pay for someone else’s groceries? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to your family members and friends, too.