Grocery Help

Brandon Gentle & Shi'Yauna Foster- Class of 2025

Brandon:

My partner and I put our money together to help with someone’s groceries because of kindness, appreciation, and thoughtfulness. Shi will explain how we did it, and I will tell you why.

We chose to combine our money because it’s easier to have $20 instead of $10. We could afford more things for our investment. We then chose to leverage our $20 because we wanted to have enough money in case the person’s grocery bill was a higher amount.

We then chose to buy snacks and water because high schoolers love to have snacks and they’re always eating throughout the day so we wanted to help them out by selling food to them for a price of $1. Most of the money we made was collected through Cashapp and we carried a small amount in cash which was more safe and convenient.

We decided to do something unusual with the money we made, so we used the proceeds from selling snacks to purchase someone’s groceries for them, but most people wouldn't assume someone else would pay for their groceries. We were also inspired to help this way because of social media videos. In the beginning, we were going to buy a random person’s McDonald’s meal, but we went with groceries instead. We chose groceries because it’s more to give out for less money. 

Although it can be strange to buy someone’s groceries that you don't know, it’s just the fact that you’d be doing it out of the act of kindness, letting the person know they’re valued and still being seen by others. Even a small gesture like complimenting someone or asking how their day was, can make them feel better about themselves and put a smile on their face.

Thank you.

Shi'Yauna:

Me and my partner put our money together to buy snacks, sell them, and make a profit to buy a random person's groceries at Publix in Colonial Heights, VA.

We decided to leverage our money by buying and selling snacks. My partner and I purchased family-sized boxes of snacks and packages of water. We went to the store to look at prices and to buy items on October 31st. We started selling them on November 13th. By the end of November, we turned our $20 into $41.

I chose to buy groceries for a woman at Publix, where I was working as a bagger. I chose this person because her total was similar to the amount that we gained. It actually felt great providing this service and the customer kept thanking me for buying her items. When she walked away she had a big smile on her face.  

I think that this was a perfect way to spend our $10 because it was productive, enjoyable, and encouraging. This would be a good thing for someone to do in the community because it really could make a difference and make someone's day, they could keep it going by being in a good mood and providing the same service as my partner and I did also makes a positive impact on the community. 

Thank you.