Fort McMurray evacuee touched by generosity of young Leduc cashier

Three days ago, Raymond Nichol was at the Leduc Co-op picking up some "odds and ends" for himself and his girlfriend, both recent evacuees of the Fort McMurray fires.

While he stood in line to pay for his items, he heard the cashier asking those in front of him for donations to the relief efforts.

When the cashier asked Nichol the same question, he agreed to donate a dollar to help out his hometown. Then Nichol mentioned where he was from.

"He goes, 'Excuse me?' And I go, 'Yeah, I'm from Fort McMurray,'" said Nichol,who fled FortMcMurrayalong with his girlfriend, two cats, and a dog."And he goes, 'Oh, sir, don't worry about that, I'll take care of it.'"

• 'We need every hand': Edmonton relief centres urgently need more volunteers
• 'Pyro' bugs will help restore burned Fort McMurray forest

Nichol said that wouldn't be necessary since the donation was just a dollar.

"He put his hand on the debit machine, turns it towards himself and says, 'No sir, I'm paying for your groceries.' And he took out hisown debit card in and put it right in the machine right in front of me."

Nichol was floored. While his groceries only amounted to around $50, the cashier couldn't have been more than 16 or 17 years old, he said.

"It just blew my mind because this is just a kid," he said."You don't expect that from a teenager."

After that, the cashier started telling Nichol about the other services that are available in the area.

He posted about the experienceon Facebook and was soon put in touch with the mother of the young cashier, whose name is Coleton.

Nichol said the encounter was just one example of the kindness and generosity he's experienced since leaving Fort McMurray.

"For me, it's been nothing but excellent support," he said.