By Peter Heck
Ashley Ann Jones, a 35-year-old business owner in Little Rock, Arkansas, surprised families in underserved areas of her community by paying for $28,000 in groceries this week.
Having heard that the lines at food banks were growing excessively long and that many charity pantries were running out of supplies around the holidays, Jones said she decided to target two Kroger stores in Little Rock for her Christmas surprise.
Joseph Mayo, who manages one of the two stores, said it was an incredible “Christmas gift” that reduced some customers to tears.
“They’d come up and we’d say your groceries are paid for and they’d be like ‘Are you serious? Really?’ [They’d] never had anything like that happen to them before,” Mayo said.
Jones, whose father served in the military, said that several military families and senior citizens frequent the two Kroger stores she selected. She did not keep track of how many families she ended up helping, but said she was grateful she had the opportunity to be a blessing to others in need.
