They say that good deeds shouldn’t be broadcasted. Those who want to help do so because they want to, not for popularity or fame. And nowadays, finding such a kind soul is difficult. There are many out there who help simply because they want to be known.
Still, it comes as a pleasant surprise when we stumble upon a pure-hearted individual who did charity work without ever talking about it. Such is a case with one man. No one knew what he really did for the people of Alabama until he passed.
It was only during the funeral a man named Hody Childress from Geraldine, Alabama, that people finally realized what he had done. They came to know that for a decade, this quiet, kind, and loving man was a guardian angel to the poor and sick people in the area.
Childress was a farmer and U.S. Air Force veteran. This quiet charity campaign of his started when he visited the local Geraldine drugstore. He saw that not too many of the town folk (which was around 900 of them) could afford to purchase the medicines they needed to stay healthy. They had prescriptions from doctors, but unfortunately, they just didn’t have the cash.
Life wasn’t always easy for Childress. In fact, he also went through his fair share of troubles. He lost a son in 1973, and his first wife in 1999. He had been such a devoted husband to his wife that he carried her into the stands for local football games because she suffered from multiple sclerosis and couldn’t get there herself.
Still, Childress never lost his zest for life. When he learned that many of his neighbors couldn’t afford the medications, he handed Brooke Walker, owner of Geraldine Drugs, a $100 bill to help them.
“Here, this $100 is for anyone who can’t afford their prescription,” Walker said when he recalled his first encounter with the charitable man. “Do not tell a soul that the money came from me, tell them it’s a blessing from God.”
A month had passed and Walker saw Childress again. He once again traipsed inside the drugstore to give the owner another $100 and this came with the exact same instructions—’do not tell a soul that the money came from me, tell them it’s a blessing from God.’
He would do this on the 1st of every month for the same reason in the years that followed. When 2022 came, he missed it because he was suffering a pulmonary disease and other health conditions. So, Childress decided to get someone else to help him. He gave the task to his daughter, Tania Nix.
“I was shocked – I had no idea that he was helping people at the drugstore,” according to WVTM.
He succumbed to the disease and during his funeral on January 5th, 2023, Nix told the story of Childress’ decade of giving. The amount may not have been big by any comparable means, but this was enough to cover the cost of expensive medications for 2 residents each month, which already made a big difference to the recipients.
Word began to spread that Geraldine had their very own guardian angel, and WVTM reported that the people in the area have agreed to remember his legacy and continue the good work he started.
“There are so many people in Geraldine who have lived longer because of Hody,” pharmacist Heather Walker shared. “Hody was a true humble servant who will always be loved.”
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True Activist / Report a typo
