A group of Publix employees in Alabama are being praised for going above and beyond the call of duty to help reunite a little girl with her favorite stuffed toy, Fox News is reporting.
A little kindness goes a long way, as the old saying goes. But for the manager of the Daphne, Alabama, Publix and his team, that phrase means the world to them and their customers. Even if that means digging through a south Alabama landfill in the dead of summer.
Here’s what happened. Last week, Jenna Rachal and her 3-year-old daughter, Madison, were at the grocery store’s Daphne location. Madison brings her stuffed bunny with her everywhere she goes, so of course, it went into the store with her and mom. However, it got lost in the shuffle when a thunderstorm hit.
Racing to get their goods into the car before they got soaked, the two overlooked Bunny.
“I knew he had been left in the [cart] just in the hustle of getting into the car before the rain.”
The next day, Jenna called Publix, hoping against hope that Madison’s beloved toy was in the Lost & Found. It wasn’t. So she took her story to the “What’s Happening in Daphne” Facebook page.
Manager Mike Gayheart saw Jenna’s post. He looked through security camera footage and managed to track the bunny’s journey from the cart to the trash. Unfortunately, the trash had already gone out, headed for the city dump.
That wasn’t going to stop Gayheart and his team from doing right by the little girl. In searing heat and humidity, Gayheart and three of his employees went to the landfill to look for the bunny. And they found it!
https://twitter.com/CFambroNBC15/status/1019407179948920833
The first thing Gayheart did was wash the toy – three times. Then, he made a phone call to Jenna to set up the beautiful reunion.
Telling Madison that there was a present for her at the store, Jenna and the little girl went back to where she’d lost the toy rabbit. There, she was handed a box to unwrap.
“She opened the gift and immediately grabbed Bunny and hugged him. I never imagined they’d actually go out to the landfill to dig through a heap of trash in 90-something degree heat.”
Back in the car, Mom took video of the little girl spending time once again with her best friend. You can see the touching video below.
Employees from an Alabama @Publix spent their weekend digging through a landfill to reunite this 3 y.o. girl and her bunny. #aw pic.twitter.com/omtDOv0gvt
— Daniel Figueroa IV (@danuscripts) July 18, 2018
Gayheart, for his part, hasn’t returned calls from the media for comment.
