Publix grocery store in Daphne, Alabama

From the Trash Heap

Some grocery store employees took customer service to a new level.

Jenna Rachal and her 3-year-old daughter, Madison, went shopping recently at the Publix grocery
store in Daphne, Alabama. When they had completed their shopping, they left the store abruptly due
to a heavy rainstorm. When they returned home, little Madison realized that she had lost her
stuffed bunny. Knowing that she had it while they were at Publix, they went back to the store the
next day to see if they could find it. They could not find it nor had it been turned in to the
customer service desk. They left and little Madison was heartbroken.

Rachal posted a plea on Facebook asking for anyone who may have seen the toy to return it to
Madison. The post was shared more than 1,500 times. One of the people who viewed it was Mike
Gayheart, the manager of the Publix store where the bunny had been lost.

Gayheart and some other Publix employees began to investigate. They watched surveillance video.
They saw the bunny perched in a shopping cart where Madison had left it. They watched on video as
the bunny was taken to a trash can and dumped. The trash can was emptied into a trash compactor,
the compactor was emptied into the dumpster, and the dumpster was later emptied into a garbage
truck. So the Publix employees knew that the bunny had been taken to the landfill.

Gayheart couldn't stand it. He assembled a crew and headed to the landfill. Here's the rest of the
story in Madison's mom own words: "So, Mike, the amazing manager at Publix in Daphne [plus] 3
additional employees went to the landfill to dig for bunny and FOUND HIM! Mike took bunny home and
washed him 3 times to get him nice and clean. Bunny still [had] a stench but we are so happy he is
home. Maddie has not let him go and she says he doesn't stink!"

Gayheart and his crew went the extra mile to help mend a little girl's broken heart, and the little
girl and her mother couldn't be more grateful. *

When you and I were on the trash heap because of our sin, the Son of God came to seek for us and to
save us (Luke 19:10). Jesus had to give His life to save us from our sins (Romans 5:8). Although
we are stained and smelly, we can be washed clean by the blood that He shed for us (Revelation 1:5).

God will wash away our sins, add us to His family, and give us eternal life when we place our faith
and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus
before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38). As we continue to follow Him, the blood of Jesus will continue to cleanse us from sin
(1 John 1:7-9).

Rejoice, "for the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). "And now why are
you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts
22:16).

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from "Publix employees dig through landfill to find adorable girl's lost
bunny" by Chris Best of WKRG, www.wkrg.com.