‘Goosebumps’: How a customer’s gift touched grocery workers at a Hilton Head standby
It was business as usual for David Martin, owner of Hilton Head’s Piggly Wiggly, on Friday morning, the front end of a busy holiday weekend on the island.
That morning, he exchanged pleasantries with a familiar face, a customer from Tennessee who lives part of the year in a modest apartment near the grocery store’s Coligny Plaza location, a fixture on the island for over 50 years.
About half an hour later, the man returned. “I want to give you something,” he told Martin, holding out a check for $1,000. “Give it to your flock,” the man said. “Every time I come in here, your staff treat me like family.”
Martin was speechless. He had “goosebumps,” he said. The grocer intends to cash the check and spread it among his about two dozen employees — an Easter weekend bonus for workers who’ve kept the family-run market open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s pretty moving,” said Martin, whose humble store has steadfastly weathered hurricanes and competition from larger supermarkets nearby.
The Pig is a familiar backdrop for the generosity of strangers. Last weekend, the Hilton Head High School football team raised $4,700 bagging groceries over two days, according to Martin, who has worked at the store since he was 9 years old.
“That’s just how people are so generous right now,” he said. “I have never seen that much money in that much time.”
