Groceries

of orange juice — strewn across the driveway.

After Daly and Lyle asked a few questions to those on scene, they determined a van carrying a group of senior citizens, residing at the elderly housing complex at 16 Middle St., had just returned from their weekly shopping trip to Market Basket.

Hood points out the van driver’s plan was to get all the groceries out of the vehicle, then allow the seniors to exit the bus in order to safely collect what they bought. According to Hood, before her 80-yearold sister got out of the van, a driver turned their vehicle into the nearby bank parking lot, running over her sister’s bag of groceries.

“I guess a car was turning into the parking lot and the way the bus was, it kind of blocked his view and he happened to run over the woman’s groceries,” Daly said.

The driver responsible for accidentally running over the bag was apologetic, according to Daly.

“We made sure everyone was safe first,” he said. “Then I took out my notebook and wrote down what groceries were damaged. We decided we needed to go replace them.”

With the stranger’s shopping list in hand, Lyle and Daly went to the new Market Basket on Pawtucket Boulevard, and used money out of their own pockets to buy the groceries lost in the accident. They then headed back to the senior’s apartment, where they gave the woman her replacement groceries.

“She was surprised to see us,” said Daly, noting he and Lyle never even asked the woman’s name.

“She wasn’t expecting us to come,” Daly added. “She was very thankful.”

The goodwill was noticed by the rest of the the 80-year-old’s family, including Hood. Charmed by the kindness of the officer and firefighter, Hood got to work constructing a letter of thanks, which she sent to Lowell Police Superintendent Kelly Richardson.

Hood told Richardson about the incident, describing the officer and firefighters as “wonderful,” and asked that they be thanked on behalf of her family.

The letter was posted to the Lowell Police Department Twitter page.

“In these trying times it is uplifting to see such beyond the call of duty thoughtfulness,” Hood concluded in the letter.

According to Hood, the van is used to take senior citizens to get groceries once a week — a trip her sister greatly enjoys. However, with only one shopping trip a week, the smashed bag of groceries put her sister in a tough spot — and just two days before Christmas.

“We were very happy that they extended this kindness to my sister,” Hood said. “It was something they didn’t need to do, but she was very touched, as was the rest of my family.”

‘In these trying times it is uplifting to see such beyond the call of duty thoughtfulness.’

Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis