A stranger is being hailed as a hero after she paid the bill for a foster care worker at an H-E-B in Texas when she saw the woman’s check was not being accepted by the cashier.

Reagan Gamble, an employee with the Concho Valley Home for Girls & Children’s Emergency Shelter, was standing in line at the checkout with two teenage girls living at the shelter when she learned that there was an error with her check that left the cashier unable to accept it.

“There was a mistake made on the check,” she recounted. “We had shopped about an hour to get enough groceries to feed (the children) a week’s worth of meals they would help prepare.”

Just when Reagan was starting to panic, a woman behind her in line tapped her on the shoulder and handed over her debit card, insisting on paying the $160 bill. She explained to Reagan that she had once been a similar situation herself, and that she was more than willing to help the foster care organization. This major act of kindness left an impression on the two teenage girls.

“The kids were shocked,” Reagan said. “One later said she had never seen someone do that before. We talked about it after leaving H-E-B.”

Reagan explained that both girls, who had each been removed from abusive homes, have since talked about ways they can pay this forward by doing something nice for somebody else.

“Next time we go somewhere, if we see someone struggling with groceries, we can help load the car and put up the basket,” she said. “The girls also talked about paying for someone’s drink at Sonic.”