Teen's touching gesture to woman who broke down while shopping

A teenager’s act of kindness is encouraging others to follow suit this holiday season after he covered the tab of an unknown woman who was unable to pay her grocery bill at the cash register.

John Lopez Jr. works at Walmart in hopes to earn enough money to pay for college yet during one of his shifts this week he was spotted paying for another customer’s full cart of groceries after she broke down at the counter.

Laci Simms – a fellow shopper who witnessed the touching moment – snapped a photo of the 19-year-old in action and praised the teen on Facebook, saying he, “renewed her faith in humanity.”

“I just witnessed this ‘kid’ pay for a cart of merchandise for a woman in obvious distress about her inability to pay,” Laci said.

“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.”

Many people commented on her post, which has over 3,000 shares, to applaud John’s kind deed.

“Kindness goes a long way. … Hopefully his kindness is returned 10x over in his lifetime!” one person wrote.

“Awesome John! This crazy world needs more people like you!” another added.

John told CBS Dallas that the woman in line “started crying, and I was like, ‘OK, I got you. I got you.’ I just felt in my heart that the Lord told me I had to help her.”

His generosity hasn’t gone unnoticed. A GoFundMe campaign was started in John’s name after a man named Brandon Weddle came across the story. On the fundraising site, he wrote that he wants to help cover the 19-year-old’s college tuition to “make his Christmas the best ever!”

“He gave selflessly. It was made public. The comments that I’ve seen about this gentleman [are] extraordinary,” Brandon wrote. “He touches a lot of lives on a daily basis. I’d like to give back to him for constantly giving himself to our community.”

John explained he was carrying out the values his parents instilled in him.

“My parents basically taught me if someone needs help, you should be able to help them, and if someone is down, bring them up,” he told CBS Dallas.

Walmart has also praised Lopez for his selflessness in a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle.

“Our associates are special and John’s actions are a perfect example. Those who know John wouldn’t be surprised. He’s a kind, generous person and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”

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