OK, I love this story so much.
There's a woman named Stacy in St. Louis, Missouri
who has spent the last two months secretly raising
money for her favorite Walgreens cashier.
His name is Mike Haynes, and we're
going to surprise them at his store today.
We're going to check in with Jeannie, who is in St. Louis.
Jeannie?
Hi, Ellen.
Hello!
Hi, you're with like 80 people there, right?
Yeah, so I've got Stacy here, and I have over 80 people
here that donated to her fundraiser.
And I've got to tell you, I've been talking with them.
They've been telling me the most amazing stories about Mike.
I cannot wait to meet him.
He sounds like a pretty incredible guy.
Yeah, obviously, and Stacy, you're incredible too.
I love what you're doing.
Why did you decide to do this for Mike?
Well, thank you for saying that, Ellen,
and you so much for having us.
That's the first thing I have to say.
We are so honored to be doing this,
and Mike is the most deserving man.
So truly, thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts.
But let me tell you about Mike.
So Mike-- honestly, every time I walk in I
get so excited to see him.
He just is so genuine and warm and kind,
and he remembers your name and looks at your credit card
and asks you your name or, you know, remembers your name.
And we just love him to death, and we
wanted to come together and just show him
exactly what he means to us and wanted
to give him the chance to--
give us the chance to brighten his day.
Oh, that's so great.
I'm going to call Mike and talk to him for a minute,
and then we'll all surprise them.
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello, this is Mike.
Hi, Mike.
Mike, I'm calling because I was in the store yesterday,
and I lost my purse.
Have you seen my purse?
Yes, ma'am.
Have I seen a purse?
Yeah, can you just look around?
Stay on the phone while you look for the purse, could you?
How long have you--
how long have you worked at Walgreens, Mike.
About six years, ma'am, for about six years--
well, six, almost seven, but give it a couple of months.
Is it a nice place to work?
You like working there?
I like my-- I like my job.
That's so good.
I like my workplace, and I like the great bosses, you know.
They're great people to work with-- great customers also.
That's great, Mike.
Who is this?
You know what?
It's actually Ellen DeGeneres.
I did not lose my purse, and I just wanted to call and say hi.
Hi.
Whoa, whoa, whoa-- did you just say Ellen DeGeneres?
Yeah, I did.
Ellen?
Yeah.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
How are you doing?
Good!
I didn't lose my purse, so I'm just
calling-- someone is running into your store right now,
and do you see?
Oh my god!
Mike, get over here!
Oh my god!
Hi, you!
[APPLAUSE]
Say hello to Ellen!
Ellen's on hold!
Yeah, you can hang up.
Hey, Ellen.
What's up?
How you doing today, Ellen?
How you doing?
Hi, Mike.
Oh my god.
Hey, Ellen.
Hey.
Oh, there you are.
There you are.
OK, there you are.
Hi, Ellen, how are you doing today?
I'm good.
How are you doing, Mike?
Oh god!
I'm doing-- I'm doing--
I'm shocked.
Yeah.
I'm shocked.
So you know Jeannie.
Jeannie is right there in your arms,
and then you should also put that other woman right there
in your arms--
Stacy.
You should put your arm around her, and I'll tell you why--
because she's one of your customers,
and Stacy has something to tell you.
I wanted to let you know that everyone who
comes in this store, everyone here,
everyone who works with you--
we think that you are the most kind man in the world,
and we appreciate you.
Thank you.
And how special you treat each person that comes across--
I'm so nervous telling you this because you have truly
made an impact on our lives.
And so we wanted to thank you.
We did a little fundraiser for you.
OK.
Started a fundraiser for you.
Wait, but hold up, I'm not worthy.
I'm not worthy.
You are.
I'm not worthy.
You are.
Mike, how long has it been that you think that it's
important to be kind to people?
I mean, what started that?
Well, you know, a lot of it is my mother, different people
that you meet in life.
My mother always told me, man, the same people that you
meet going up in life is the same people
that you meet going down.
So I have to thank a lot of people
that I work with, a lot of people that come in.
I've got a lot of great customers.
I love this place, man.
Oh my god.
Well, you really have made an impact on a lot of people.
There are a bunch of people outside in the cold that
donated to this fundraiser.
Look at this!
Come on in, everybody!
Oh my god!
Come on in!
What's up, brother?
How you doing today?
Everybody, come on in!
Come on in!
[APPLAUSE]
Mike!
Mike, can you believe all of these people?
I cannot believe-- oh my God.
All right, so Mike--
Mike, I want Stacy to tell you what she has done so far.
Stacy, how much have you raised for Mike so far?
Mike we have raised--
from over 280 donors, we have raised over $6,000-- actually,
exactly $6,350 for you.
Get that money!
Oh, where is it?
How amazing is that?
Mike, let me tell you something.
I want to contribute as well, so we're
going to do that later in the show.
You're going to play a game, OK, to win some more money.
OK, OK.
All right, we're back at Walgreens-- in the St. Louis
Walgreens with Jeannie, Mike, and Stacy.
And Mike, your community has raised over $6,000 for you,
and I want everyone to know why you deserve this money.
You live paycheck to paycheck, and you're working hard
to take care of your mom.
And I also know that, no matter what struggles
you have, you continue to spread kindness and positivity
through your community.
So we're going to play Cash at Your Store.
We're going to do it a little differently, though.
I'm going to send you on a scavenger hunt.
For each item you bring back to me, after I name it,
I'm going to give you $1,000.
Oh, yeah!
Yeah!
Bring it on, Ellen.
Bring it on.
All right, here we go.
All right, ready?
Go find me something that men are embarrassed to buy.
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, what do you have, Mike?
Men are always embarrassed to buy this-- all men are
embarrassed to buy this one.
OK, great.
All right, that's $1,000.
Now, I need you to find something
that you would buy if you're sick.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
Oh my god!
You know, Mike, unfortunately, I didn't realize everything
I'm asking for is so far away.
I should just ask for gum or magazines
that are right at the stand.
But so now we're out of time because everything
was so far away, so I'm just going to have
to round up the winnings.
Our friends at Shutterfly want to help
you celebrate this moment with a check for $10,000.
[APPLAUSE]
Oh my god!
$10,000, Mike!
Oh my god.
Thank you.
Ellen, thank you so much.
I really appreciate it.
I want to thank everybody over here!
Mike, really, all this is happening because of Stacy.
We found out about you because of Stacy.
So here's one more thing I want to do.
Stacy and Mike-- I love both of you so much.
I want to invite both of you to my birthday show.
So I will see you soon to my--
[APPLAUSE]
All right?