Vandalia firefighters who had to leave Kroger for a medical call came back to the store to find someone had paid for their groceries.

According to a post on the Vandalia Division of Fire Facebook page, second platoon firefighters were finishing their daily grocery shopping Sunday morning when they had to leave to respond to a medical emergency call. When they returned, they were told by management that a citizen had paid for their groceries in appreciation for what they do for the community.

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A note on the receipt from the anonymous citizen says “Thank you for your service! All of you helped when I had a fire earlier this year. God Bless!”

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com