This quarantine has been hard for everyone. The COVID-19 pandemic has much of the world trapped in their homes, only permitted to leave for necessities such as food.

The fear that it’s caused has convinced some that the best way to cope is to strip store shelves of all necessities, making sure their families have more than enough household goods and cheap food, even if that means others go without.

For those on tight budgets – which is most people these days – that means what’s left over tends to be more expensive. And that means they can afford far less, even as upper-middle-class families load up their Range Rovers with items they may not even need.

It’s a common behavior when fear is rampant, but at the end of the day, it’s selfish and it harms our fellow citizens. And it certainly harmed Jen Mullins.

When Mullins went to the Meijer grocery store in Allen Park, Michigan on March 16th, she had $40 left to her name.

Like so many, her family lives paycheck to paycheck. And now those paychecks have stopped coming.

But her trip to the grocery store was made even more difficult by people buying in bulk and leaving only premium, high-priced goods behind.

She can’t afford a lot of what’s left to feed herself, her young son, and her husband. Mullins is also pregnant with her second child.

She posted a photo of what she could afford to Facebook – and it was very little considering the $37 she spent.

“$37 worth for this… it wasn’t much but it was what I could afford for us to make dinner (with a few drinks in the basket you can’t see)…,” she explained.

But it was her son asking for a toy that drew the attention of a good samaritan.

Mullins was standing in line with her cart when the 4-year-old set his sights on a toy car. We all know how those checkout lines are meant to tempt us!

Of course, she had to try to explain to him that the family couldn’t afford it and that the money they had was being spent on the food in her cart which was supposed to last the family TWO weeks.

“He’s 4 and really only understands that he can’t get this toy. He’s upset but stops asking…,” she said in her post.

Her son didn’t get the car. That wouldn’t be very responsible in a time like this. But she was shocked by what happened when it came time for her to pay. It turned out the women in line in front of her overheard her talking to her son.

“Well after all this I go to pay for our things and the cashier hands me a gift card. She then tells me the lady that was in front of me bought it and wanted me to have it but to make sure she left first.
She got me a $50 gift card to help us out.”

Receiving $50 out of the kindness of someone’s heart and without strings attached or even the need to say thank you must have felt like the ultimate gift at that point.

“Of course I’m pregnant and super emotional as it is and I start bawling my eyes out in line at Meijer,” Mullins wrote.

It’s no surprise that the tears started flowing.

“That honestly helped us more than she may ever know. I literally only had $40 left to my name for 2 weeks and I was about to spend $37 of it on this little bit of food.
Because of her I’ll be able to get a little more if we run out before our next check. I’ll be able to get gas to get to work and not have to worry.”

It may have felt like a small gesture to the woman who bought it, but it made a huge impact on the entire Mullins household and on the expecting mom’s state of mind.

She wanted to share the story in the hopes that it would do the same for others.

“I hope one day we can get caught up so I can pass it forward!!” she exclaimed in closing.

That’s the kind of generosity and compassion we need at this point.

Be sure to scroll down below to see Jen Mullins’ original post.

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Source: Jen Mullins via Facebook, ProPublica