Paying the Mini Mart Back

Who's gonna steal the peanut butter

I'll get the can of sardines

Runnin' up and down the aisle of the Mini Mart

Stickin' food in our jeans

We never took more than we could eat

There was plenty left on the rack

We all swore if we ever got rich

We would pay the Mini Mart back

Written by Jimmy Buffet in Peanut Butter Conspiracy

The woman on the left is a mother from Miami who was so desperate to feed her hungry family that she was trying to steal a lot of food.

The woman on the right is Miami-Dade County Police Officer Vicki Thomas. Officer Thomas was about to arrest Jessica Robles but changed her mind at the last minute.

Instead of arresting her, she bought Robles $100 worth of groceries. “I made the decision to buy her some groceries because arresting her wasn't going to solve the problem with her children being hungry.”

And there’s no denying they were hungry. Robles’ 12-year-old daughter started crying when she told local TV station WSVN about how dire their situation was. “It's not fun to see my brother in the dirt hungry, asking for food, and we have to tell him, ‘There is nothing here.’"

Officer Thomas says she has no question that what she did was right. “To see them go through the bags when we brought them in, it was like Christmas. That $100 to me was worth it.”

But Officer Thomas did have one request, “The only thing I asked of her is, when she gets on her feet, that she help someone else out. And she said she would.”

And guess what? The story gets even better.

After word got out about what happened people donated another $700 for Jessica Robles to spend at the grocery store.

And then, best of all, a local business owner invited her in for an interview and he ended up hiring her on the spot as a customer service rep.

She started crying when she told him:

“There's no words how grateful I am that you took your time and helped somebody out. Especially somebody like me.”

And to think it all started with one veteran police officer trusting her “instinct” instead of going “by the book.”                          
                                                                                                   Reprinted from Frank Somerville, KTVU

Today’s gift was inspired by this story. I donated money to the local food bank to help people like the Robles’ family. I hope this story encourages people to “pay the Mini Mart back” or pay it forward to help those who are hungry.

In Giving,

Robin