When Laci Simms was shopping at a Princeton, Texas Walmart back in December of 2018, she saw something touching. And like most people these days when we think a good deed that needs attention, she snuck a photo of the moment and headed to Facebook post about it.

It seems that a well-known and friendly cashier named John had gone out of his way for a customer. But this wasn’t just any customer service.

A woman ahead of Simms in John’s line had trouble paying for groceries totaling $110.

It might have been something along the lines of a declined card because it appears she would have gone home empty-handed and she was very upset about not being able to pay. But John stepped to pay the WHOLE total.

While Simms has now taken the post down (viral posts can take a lot of time to manage, especially cruel or spam comments), it had thousands of likes and shares within days.

It once read, in part:

“I just witnessed this ‘kid’ pay for a cart of merchandise for a woman in obvious distress about her inability to pay. 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. Ya’ll, it was $110 dollars! …I don’t know John’s story, but I don’t think he is even 20 years old. He just renewed my faith in humanity and the generation we are raising!”

It was an uplifting story right before Christmas – just what everyone needed.

For his part, 19-year-old John Lopez, Jr. was stunned at the outpouring of support.

“Tuesday night I was up until 11 looking at the comments on the post,” he told CBS 11. “I was like this can’t be real.”

He had been working at the store since March to earn money for college. He saves most of his salary, but decided to make an exception for the distressed woman in his line.

“She started crying and I was like ‘okay I got you – I got you’,” Lopez Jr. said. “I just felt in my heart that the Lord told me I had to help her.”

Many people in the community recognized Lopez Jr. from the Facebook post, including customer Brandon Weddle.

“I’ve been through his line a couple of times, my wife has too, and we’ve spoken about him, how he touches people on a daily basis,” he told InsideEdition.com.

Weddle couldn’t get the teen’s act of generosity out of his head and wanted to do something kind for him, especially since the holidays were coming up. That’s when he set up a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise $1,000 for John as a sort of “thank you” from his customers.

But it ended up turning into something MUCH bigger.

The local CBS station shared the story and his good deed went viral again – Weddle was shocked to see the original fundraising goal smashed within hours!

“…it just really blew up. I had to keep pumping up the goal for him.”

The page eventually raised $37,087 before it was closed! An incredible feat!

And while the money is certainly nice, the community really wanted to recognize Lopez, Jr. personally.

His Walmart manager organized a special event for the teen, attended by Princeton Mayor John-Mark Caldwell and Police Chief James Waters, who presented the teenager with a certificate and a medallion. Weddle also transferred the GoFundMe funds to Lopez. Jr., who said he was, indeed, going to use the money for college.

“He was very excited and you could tell it meant a lot to him and his family. You know it’s going to a good family,” Weddle said. “I’m just glad that he got recognized this year, and I’m glad the community stepped up to help him. Someone working as a cashier in Walmart might not make the most money in the world to help someone, but he still did it.”

Laci Simms, who originally shared the story on Facebook, was also thrilled for the teen.

“Seeing a stranger help another stranger is how we should act as humans,” she told InsideEdition.com.

Lopez, Jr. agreed to speak to CBS 11, where he was humble about his actions, noting simply that he was raised to care for people.

“My parents basically taught me if someone needs help you should be able to help them and if someone is down, bring them up,” Lopez Jr. said.

His mother was proud of his actions, but not surprised.

“That’s just my son,” Josefa Lopez said. “We tell him always to help people.”

Be sure to scroll down below to see an interview with the generous teen.

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Source: InsideEdition.com, CBS11 News, GoFundMe