When a community is hurting, some businesses will swoop in to take advantage of the situation just to make a dime.
Other businesses give back and support their community.
It’s a matter of priority. And a group of Atlanta entrepreneurs felt their priority this Christmas season was to help their neighbors out and lift their spirits.
That’s why Jason Lobdell and his fellow entrepreneur friends spent $40,000 on groceries for strangers at a local Kroger on Wesley Chape in Decatur.
“We had women literally crying saying thank you, so we know how much it means,” Lobdell said, according to FOX 51.
Lobdell was joined by fellow Black entrepreneurs Alix Burton, Marcus Barney, Neo Davis, Brad Giles, and Jonathan Gooch who Instagrammed their grocery store takeover.
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“As Black entrepreneurs, we got to give back to our communities,” Giles, CEO of Life Sharing Home Health Services for Kids with Developmental Disabilities, said.
Posted by Our Voice – The Magazine onSaturday, December 5, 2020
The local Atlanta entrepreneurs were inspired to lighten the burden for their neighbors in light of the Christmas season and tough economic times presented by the government-mandated coronavirus restrictions and shutdowns and lack of an economic stimulus package.
News Channel 3 KESQ reports that millions around the U.S. are still without jobs due to COVID and that more than 54 million people could soon face food insecurity, which is 17 million more than before the pandemic began.
“This is the season of giving and it’s more important than ever to give back to those in need! We had the Kroger at Wesley chapel in Atl on fire by giving out free groceries and paying for everyone for over 2 hours!” Giles said on Instagram.
They were going to hand out gift cards but that ended up taking too long so they just jumped behind registers and started checking customers out.
The entrepreneurs took over all 12 of the grocery store’s lanes and paid for every single customer’s grocery bill for two hours straight.
The customers were extremely grateful, to say the least. Some of them were even brought to tears.
“We have Thanksgiving food and we got tissue. God is good today, thank you,” one customer said.
But Lobdell said the pleasure was all his.
“I’m still floating on cloud nine after seeing those faces and getting all those hugs from the grannies and whipping those tears. It was just a good feeling,” he said.
The plan was originally to spend about $30,000 but eventually, they spent a whopping $40,000 leaving them with 10-ft long receipts that they proudly wore around their necks.
Even the store clerks got hooked up with gift cards
“A lot of us come from those situations and that type of background. So we understand the true meaning of giving back and pouring back into our community,” Lobdell said.
Giles said that he hopes they could be an example to others that anyone can help their community.
You don’t have to be a celebrity.
Entrepreneurs can also help raise up their communities.
“Not only did we shut down the grocery store, we helped inspire the community by showing them that entrepreneurs can give back to the community just as big as any celebrity and it was so much fun helping so many people this holiday season!” Giles said.
People from their neighborhood, who were helped and weren’t helped, and others from over the country made sure to thank Giles and his partners for their acts of kindness.
Learn more about their story in the video below.
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