DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. – A Lithia Springs Walmart employee is getting a lot of recognition after a shopper witnessed him perform an act of kindness for a homeless man.
Myrna Kines, a Douglas County resident, said she had just finished shopping at the Walmart store on Thornton Road Friday. As she was getting ready to leave the store, she saw a Walmart employee take of a pair of pink Converse tennis shoes and give them to a man sitting outside.
Moved by the kind act, Kines said she asked to take a photo of the employee because she said what he did “needed to be commended.”
Kines said the employee, Phil, was hesitant at first, but finally agreed.
As soon as she got back to her car, Kines said she posted Phil’s photo with a caption to recognize his thoughtful actions. So far, it’s been shared hundreds of times, and even reached the store manager of the Lithia Springs store where Phil worked. Kines spoke to the manager, who revealed that his employee had, at one point, been homeless.
The post also reached Phil's mother, who thanked Kines for sharing the story, and told her that the shoes and socks were pink in honor of his grandmother, who battled breast cancer.
The whole event, Kines said, "touched my heart very strongly.”
“We live in a world full of negativity," Kines told 11Alive. "So when you see a person do what this guy did, it deserves recognition."
