Buttercup the dog and her human, Nick Catroppa, stood outside the Murrayville IGA on the afternoon of Tuesday, Dec. 23, with grocery store patrons stopping to meet their four-legged benefactor.
His Rottweiler had paid for their groceries as a Christmas gift to complete strangers, Catroppa told them. The total amount came to almost $10,000 with many benefiting.
“It would have been in the 100 plus [range],” noted Palle Knudsen, the vice president of operations for Georgia Main Food Group.
Georgia Main operates the IGA stores in B.C., including the store in Murrayville where the giveaway took place.
“I really feel like it’s a great story, and you know what this individual did was unique. I’ve never seen anything like this on a scale,” Knudsen commented.
Over the years Catroppa, 55, has donated to causes, bought food for people on the streets, bought groceries in stores for strangers, and helped others, but had been contemplating a way to help many people. When he woke up that morning, he had a plan.
The man who builds custom homes approached the store management where he’s a regular, asking to purchase others’ groceries, and not just for a few. The store checked out the plan.
“And certainly at first, I think it’s natural to be a little bit suspect of something like that,” Knudsen said. “After doing a little bit of due diligence and working through a few minor details, we agreed to help him do this.”
So for about two hours, a steady stream of customers left the store with big smiles and occasional tears.
Not everyone accepted the offer but still got the message.
“There’s people that decided not to accept it and asked that we pick someone else, because they felt that there were other people that that perhaps could benefit more from it,” Knudsen said.
Still others took the amount of their purchase and said they were going to contribute it to a charity. Others used the money they saved to pick up items for the food donation bin in the IGA which Catroppa said was overflowing that day. And that’s a big factor in why he did this – to encourage people to help others, in any way they can.
Outside the store, the lucky customers stopped to chat with Catroppa and meet Buttercup who reveled in all the attention.
“There were people that came out and said, ‘You know what? You’ve opened my eyes. I’m going to try to pay it forward when I can, too,’” Catroppa said. “And my response to them was, ‘That’s exactly why I’m doing this’.”
And with parental permission, the children of customers received a $10 bill apiece, bringing to total expended that day to about $10,000.
With the customers’ permission, Catroppa would film their chats and explain to them that the groceries were a gift from Buttercup, soon to turn five.
The Salmon River-area resident has posted almost 250 videos of his beloved Rottweiler on social media platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram at @buttercupandnickdostuff. He posts videos of Buttercup, whether it is her learning to skateboard, hanging out with him at work, or enjoying their day-to-day adventures to add positive content to social media which he said can be so detrimental to people, particularly youth.
Unlike many on social media, he didn’t trumpet the grocery giveaway beforehand to generate traffic, likes, and subscriptions. He quietly approached the store as a way to pay it forward right before the holidays.
The grocery giveaway comes at a time when Catroppa has no money coming in, as he awaits paperwork and permits to start new construction projects. He said growing up poor – “I grew up on welfare. It was always hard on us.” – taught him to persevere, work hard, and not take things for granted.
While not a church-goer and proselytizer, he calls himself a man of faith, and feels compelled to share the blessings he has received in his life, and to spread kindness.
“I’ve been praying to God over the last maybe month before this had happened. I want to do something that’s that’s going to make an impact,” Catroppa explained, adding he was hoping for a divine sign. “And I woke up on December 23rd after about a month of praying for something, and it came to me.”
He said his goal was to inspire others to foster kindness by paying it forward, and has already started plans to do this again around Easter. He’s opened talks with two more grocery stores and is cajoling loved ones to contribute, but noted he’s not looking to start a charity nor solicit contributions from the public, only to encourage people to pay it forward in their own way.