Kindness and compassion aren’t for sale at this convenience store — they’re free

Lake Fork is pretty much known for its big bass — monsters, really — and not much else.

The East Texas reservoir, about 65 miles east of Dallas, is where 33 of the top 50 largemouth bass in Texas have been caught, and there are plenty of catfish, bluegill and crappie, too.

But this is not a fish story.

There’s a Star Mart convenience store that is generating a little buzz of its own.

Sitting on Farm Road 515 in between the lake and Emory, the Star Mart caters mostly to locals and anglers who come to Lake Fork looking for a record catch.

It’s a rather ordinary store until you stumble upon a sign taped to a refrigerator window, near the back where the milk is kept cold.

If you don’t have money or a job you can have a sandwich and a bottle of water for free.

Kindness and compassion aren’t for sale at this Star Mart — they’re free.

The gentleman behind the sign is Star Mart store owner Frank Hemani, a self-proclaimed “people person.”

Frank says he’s seen people in the area struggling to get by and figured he would try to help. Have a sandwich. Some water.

He’s not serving multitudes, but says he hands out about six sandwiches a week.

On a recent day, Frank says a woman drove up with two children in the back seat. They were hungry, crying. The woman didn't have money to buy food for her children.

Frank made the mom and her kids a pizza.

“I have been blessed,” Frank says. “I have never had to struggle.”

Frank says he got the idea to help from watching a YouTube video that showed a grocery store making a similar offer. Exploring more, he found that “there are a lot of people out there that will help other people.”

He began to pay it forward. The sign has been up for about two months.

Frank says he has lived in the Lark Fork area for 10 years and “pretty much everybody knows everybody.” He owns three businesses in the area, including the Minnow Bucket Marina near Quitman.

Outside of Lake Fork and its seductive bass, there’s not much going on, he says.

During a recent stop at the Star Mart, customers bought snacks and ice and called Frank by name. They chatted for a bit.

Then they left, most of them wearing smiles.

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Kindness and compassion aren’t for sale at this convenience store — they’re free."