2 men buy groceries for strangers at Kroger

"It's more blessed to give than to receive."

That is the philosophy of two men who bought groceries for strangers at a local Kroger and filmed it to inspire others to commit random acts of kindness.

The video footage shows the reactions of surprised customers after their groceries were paid for by Mike Lewis and Rob Westerman on July 2 at the Kroger 1 West Corry St. in Corryville.

The video has almost 15 million views on Facebook and more than 500,000 shares.



Westerman is a pastor at the Norwood campus of the Springdale Nazarene Church in the 4424 Floral Avenue. Lewis is the director of Jesus Painter Ministries, an organization that spreads the Gospel through painting performances and workshops.

Lewis hid with a camera behind a display as Westerman waited in the cashier line behind unsuspecting customers.

"God is good," Westerman said in the video as he bought a young woman's groceries and gave her a pat on the back.

Westerman's congregation contributes to a "dollar bucket" each week to raise money for charity projects throughout Cincinnati. They donated around $400 to buy the strangers' groceries.

"We want to inspire people to go out and do good," Westerman said. "To give away love is free. There is no price tag."

The video shows Westerman buying the groceries of 10 people. In total, the groceries of 15 people were paid for, he said.

"That just gave me chills," one woman on the video said after her items were paid for. "There's good people still."

Wide smiles followed the initial looks of confusion on the customers' faces after Westerman bought the groceries and promptly walked away.

Many of the customers called out "thank you," but Westerman was already out of sight.

The video shows a woman who left her wallet in the car crying after her groceries were paid for. The Kroger cashier comforted and held another woman as she sobbed after Westerman bought her groceries.

After one man's groceries were paid for, he revealed that he was recently mugged. He later emailed Lewis and said that his faith in humanity was restored, Lewis said.

Lewis ended the video with a short message, "It's more blessed to give than it is to receive."

"Our motivation is for people to see [the video] and then go out and be the change they want to see," Westerman said. "People need to be reminded that not everyone out there is a predator."