From our personal to our professional lives, and everything in between, the pandemic has touched everyone to some degree. Through it all, people and communities have come together to support one another like never before, lifting spirits through different acts of kindness.
Our Carrefour Laval Rogers retail team can speak firsthand to the power of simple acts of kindness during this time as their compassion and generosity had an immeasurable impact on an elderly customer who needed a little help.
We asked the team to recount what happened and here’s what they shared:
Tell us a bit about the day leading up to the customer arriving.
It was just a normal day in the store. A few team members – Ryndala, Jena, Sarab, Rupinder, Trivana, as well as their Area Manager, Francois Moreau – were all working one Thursday afternoon, helping customers, checking inventory and keeping the store clean. It was in mid-afternoon that an elderly woman came into the store.
What happened when the elderly woman came into the store?
She came into the store and we greeted her, asked how we could help. She explained that she needed to add funds to her prepaid plan in order to stay connected with her daughter, but that it had to be a small amount because she was on a limited income.
In the same breath, she shared that she was having some financial troubles because of the pandemic and explained that she was currently helping support her daughter and grandchildren.
As she told us more about her situation, her eyes watered. Nervous and ashamed, she shared that she had choose between putting funds on her prepaid account to stay connected to her daughter, or getting groceries to feed the family.
That must have been hard to hear. What happened next?
The first thing we tried to do was find a way to apply a credit to her account, but we wanted to do more! We really felt for her and her situation. We realized how fortunate we are to even have the opportunity to wake up and come to work – Rogers was there to help us during difficult times in the pandemic, so it was our turn to return the favour. We wanted to alleviate this stress for her, even if just temporarily —so we decided to all chip in and apply $100 to her account.
That’s so generous! What about this customer made you want to help?
Her eyes said it all – she was really in a tough place and you could tell she was embarrassed even telling us about her situation. She was trying to do right by her family and take care of her grandchildren, all while being dealt a tough hand financially because of the pandemic.
We saw our own grandmothers in that situation and couldn’t imagine them having to choose between staying connected to loved ones or buying food for the table.
It was a unanimous decision that we would help—no doubt about it!
How did she react?
When we explained what we’d done, she was so overwhelmed. She had tears of joy and appreciation—we knew we’d done the right thing.
The next day, she came back to the store and brought us some homemade pastries as a thank you. She let us know that she was able to get two-weeks worth of groceries with the $100, which warmed our hearts and made the gesture totally worth it.
Supporting community contributions like the Carrefour Laval Rogers team.
One of the ways Rogers is helping to make a better Canada.