‘Fill My Basket’ Campaign Surprises Customers by Buying Their Groceries at the Checkout

You don’t have to be rich in order to help those out around you. Just ask the folks who are paying it forward with the Fill My Basket program.

The Fill My Basket program is an organization “paying it forward to complete strangers.” They travel to local grocery stores where they surprise random customers by getting behind them in line, picking up their tab, and quickly disappearing out the door.

“It’s like this rush that you get, your heart is beating fast,” co-founder Matthew Danuser said about the experience.

Danuser first started Fill My Basket with his friends Disty Simpson, Nick Bubb, and Felix Cornejo. They were inspired to create Fill My Basket after they saw a viral video of a man paying for a random person’s groceries.

“That’s how this started for me,” says Danuser. “I saw a video of a gentleman paying for groceries and I knew immediately — once I stopped crying — that I wanted to do this.”

The first time Fill My Basket went into effect in August 2016, the money came right out of the co-founders pockets. They used a total of $415 along with $405 Simpson acquired through social media posts about his idea. Since then, they have worked purely off donations.

“Since August 2016, Fill My Basket has already raised over $4,000 and helped over 60 families,” reported Upworthy.

“It’s all about paying it forward. It’s all about doing something for somebody else,” Danuser said. “It’s about other people seeing what we’re doing and wanting to help somebody else.”

Check it out the Fill My Basket campaign in action below.