Penniless mother Jessica Robles thought she was going to be arrested when a police officer caught her stealing food for her family. But, instead, something pretty wonderful happened...
Officer Vicki Thomas chose to help Jessica rather than punish her, sending the grateful mum home with a misdemeanour citation and $100 worth of groceries.
Speaking to WSVN, she said: "I made the decision to buy her some groceries because arresting her wasn't going to solve the problem with her children being hungry."
"To see them [Jessica's hungry children] go through the bags when we brought them in, it was like Christmas. That $100 to me was worth it."
However, Vicki Thomas left Jessica with one request - and it was a very fair one, too:
"The only thing I asked of her is, when she gets on her feet, that she help someone else out. And she said she would."
We love this beautiful philosophy for life; a chain reaction of good deeds seems like one of the best ways to brighten up the lives of others on a daily basis.
And, as if to prove that an eternal circle of good deeds really can work, the kindly police officer's actions have inspired others in the community too.
Jessica returned to the grocery store, but this time accompanied by members of the community who'd raised $700 for her to spend at the store. And they even let her keep the money left over.
But it seems as if the mother of four may be back on her feet sooner than she thinks as, after hearing about Officer Vicki's good deed, the owner of a local call centre offered Jessica a job.
Yup, John Challenor of phonedoctor.com invited Jessica in to see her CV and hired her as a customer service rep on the spot.
Jessica, overwhelmed, reportedly told him: "There's no words for how grateful I am that you took your time and helped somebody out. Especially somebody like me."
Would you help someone in need with no hope of a reward? Would you like to see more people work together as a community to help people through desperate times? Let us know your thoughts via the Comments Box below; as always, we'd love to hear from you!