Toy Store Cashier's Gesture Toward Girl Sparks Holiday Kindness
"I gave her a hug trying not to cry," mom Chelsea Provencher said.
— -- One New Hampshire family is paying it forward after a toy store employee's kind gesture toward their young daughter touched their hearts.
Chelsea Provencher of Manchester, New Hampshire, told ABC News that she and her daughter Violet, 8, took an impromptu trip to a local Toys R Us on Black Friday to purchase some toys with Violet's birthday money.
Violet chose three items for herself and two gifts for her little sister. But when the $140 bill was totaled, Violet was $5.52 short.
Provencher, who didn't have her purse with her, said a nearby cashier Sheilla Nelson, 17, was quick to come to the rescue.
"She just looks over and said, 'You know what, I got this. I'll cover it for you,'" Provencher recalled. "I'm trying to explain to my daughter, you have to put something back. We said no [to Sheilla] three times, but she was so persistent. I gave her a hug trying not to cry."
Provencher arrived home and told her husband, Roger, about the kind cashier who covered the balance for their daughter's toys.
That same night, Roger went back to the Toys R Us and handed Sheilla a $500 gift card. He wanted her and others on her team to continue paying it forward, he said.
"I was just very touched by her willingness to do something nice for a complete stranger," Roger said. "She had an impact on my daughter and I wanted to give her the opportunity to help a lot of other people in this month before Christmas."
Jim Guillemette, manager of the Toys R Us in Manchester, told ABC News that the company was humbled by the Provencher family's donation and "blown away" by Sheilla's kindness.
"I was taken back by the generosity and the impulsive and good-willed nature that Sheilla provided," he said.
Sheilla Nelson told ABC affiliate WMUR-TV she covered Violet's remaining balance because she simply likes doing "nice things for other people."
Toys R Us has returned Roger Provencher's gift card, but upheld the family's wish to pay it forward by covering the cost of gifts for some customers.
The Provencers now plan on attending the store's upcoming Toys for Tots drive and will donate $500 worth of toys for children in need, Chelsea Provencher said.