Stranger Picks Up Family's $211 Bill at an Iowa Walmart

An Iowa family got an unexpected holiday gift when a stranger picked up their $211 bill at Walmart.

Ruby Modlin was shopping at the Walmart in Altoona, Iowa to pick up last minute groceries for a holiday meal when she noticed a man was following her.

"I kept noticing this man, and I'd smile at him," Modlin told KCCI.

Modlin thought she might have recognized the man from high school, but he was nothing more than a stranger who was looking to do a good deed.

When Modlin got the the checkout with her husband, the mystery man got in front of her and swiped his own credit card, paying her entire $211 charge.
"I said, 'What?' He said, 'I'm paying for this.' I said, 'No, you're not.' He said, 'Yes, I am,'" Modlin tolld KCCI.

The man wouldn't take no for an answer. He paid the bill and left the family with a friendly "Merry Christmas." He pointed out that his wife and daughter was also with him and they came out just to make someone's day. The Modlin's happened to be their target for the day.

I was still standing there in shock. We were too busy crying, and the register people were smiling," Modlin said.

The surprise meant a lot to Modlin who has been battling liver failure and has been in and out of hospitals for six months. She's been trying to get a transplant for 18 months.

The stranger's generosity helped to make the Modlin's day just a bit better.

"I just want to thank them. I don't know who they are, but I hope they see this. And from my husband, and granddaughter and me, we just want to thank them," Modlin told KCCI.

Ruby's husband Ray sees the family as angels.

"They're just sent from heaven. There's no amount of words that can thank people like that," Ray Modlin said.

The act of kindness that they were shown may not have been so rare during this time as a movement is spreading across the county called "26 Acts of Kindness," in which people do 26 random acts in memory of the victims who were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Started by Ann Curry, the movement spread all over social media as many shared their stories of the acts of kindness they did and those they received.