An act of kindness: A good deed at the grocery store

Acts of Kindness: Thursdays in The Signal
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As the news of the coronavirus continues to dominate headlines, it’s always nice to hear a story that makes you smile once and awhile. During these tough times, The Signal has heard countless stories of residents across the Santa Clarita Valley pulling together to support each other with kindness. 

With that in mind, this is the first in a new weekly “Act of Kindness” feature that will appear in Thursday editions.

Covering a Family’s Need

Stevenson Ranch resident Annie Julian Sherinian had what she calls a “truly amazing act of kindness” just last week.

She’s a disabled, single mom of a 10-year-old boy, who says she has fallen on hard times after her ex-husband stopped paying child support, which was their only income.

“Unfortunately, we got evicted from our apartment,” she said. “Everything bad that could have happened, happened to us, and we are now homeless.”

They have been living at the Extended Stay America hotel for a couple of months. “I never in a million years would have thought we’d be in this situation, but we’re working on trying to figure something out.” 

Last Friday, Sherinian went grocery shopping at Ralphs in Stevenson Ranch, and it wasn’t until she made it to the register and was having a nice conversation with the cashier that she realized she didn’t have enough money left on her EBT card, nor enough cash, to cover the entire purchase.

In a perfect storm of events, she had also just recently canceled her debit card, which had received fraudulent charges, and had yet to receive her new one. 

“While trying to figure out what I needed to put back, Charlie, the cashier, pulled out his credit card and paid the remainder of my bill in the amount of $32.35,” Sherinian said.

Though she objected, even offering to pay him back, Charlie insisted, telling Sherinian it was his pleasure, she said.

“(He said), ‘It makes me feel good knowing I was able to help and do something nice for someone,’” she added. “I was in tears and just blown away … I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was to thank him over and over again.”

Upon leaving the store with all her groceries, she immediately called Ralphs to speak with Charlie’s manager and share his good deed, hoping he’d receive a promotion or “much-deserved raise.”

“When somebody does something like that, it’s just so tremendous,” she added. “It’s the human thing to do, (but) I never expected it to happen for me, and I never thought I would need it, to be honest.” 

Sherinian was especially grateful for his generous donation due to the high amount. “It wasn’t just like $5 or $8, it was $32.35, and that’s a huge deal — it’s a lot of money.”

“It’s amazing, how a stranger would do such an incredible thing, especially this day and age, which is so rare,” Sherinian added. “I just want Charlie to be recognized for his incredibly amazing act of kindness and generosity.”

Has someone been kind to you recently? If you have a story you’d like to share, please send your stories to [email protected]

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