Concord Police were on a mission when they walked into Market Basket on Friday.
As a group of six uniformed officers walked through the automatic doors on Fort Eddy Road, they scanned the bustling aisles for people to stop. But they weren’t looking to give any tickets or citations – they were there to pay for shoppers’ groceries.
One by one, officers dressed in blue elf hats tapped people on the shoulder and offered them $25 and $50 gift cards.
It was an act of kindness that made Pam Abbott of Loudon tear up as she walked through the pasta aisle.
“I am very emotional actually – that was very nice,” she said, pulling her cart out of the path of other shoppers while wiping her eyes. “This is a hard time of year for people. It really is, and to see that – it just makes my day completely.”
The police department has been putting in some extra time during the last few days to pay it forward throughout Concord, police Chief Brad Osgood said. The department got an anonymous donation of $50,000 to do just that, and they’ve been using it to pay for food at grocery stores, holiday shopping at places like Target and Walmart and items like coffee and bagels at The Works downtown.
They also have hundreds of wrapped presents they’ve been giving out during patrols. Osgood said the goal is to interact with as many people as possible.
“You could get rid of $50,000 easy by giving it to one person,” he said. “The balance is reaching as many people as we can in the most meaningful way.”
Beatrice Richmond, who was shopping with her son Israel, who is a toddler, in Market Basket’s frozen food section, said the gift card came right when she needed it. She said her family has been struggling with money lately, and having the extra boost allowed her to buy something special for Israel – toaster strudel.
“He’s been asking me to buy this for days,” she said. “It just means so much.”
The anonymous donation was offered to the police department a few weeks ago – and they were given the freedom of spending it in any way that would benefit the community, Concord Lt. Sean Ford said.
“The general goal was to get to people in need. They said, you know the community the best, so identify people who you think need it and pay it forward,” Ford said.
In addition to random acts of kindness in the streets of Concord, the department has also been stopping by houses of victims of crimes with more personal items. Some gift receivers were people who had lost loved ones to homicide or those who have been victims of violent crimes themselves.
One stop they made was to the home of a 6-year-old who was paralyzed after she was beaten by her mother’s boyfriend in 2014.
“She was so happy, it was unbelievable,” Ford said. “Her grandma, who adopted her, was crying when we were taking the presents out of the car.”
Osgood said that officers are working to spend about 50 percent of the donation money by Monday. The rest they will distribute when they see a need in the community.
There’s a family Osgood knows that doesn’t have beds for their children to sleep on, he said. He said he might look into getting them bunk beds.
Back at Market Basket, Lee Colby of Penacook was just checking out when he was given his gift card. He said he had never been given something like that for free before.
“Especially with the police department,” he joked. “Usually I’m paying them.”