“It’s a blessing from God.”
Pharmacist Brooke Walker was only following instructions each time she gave that answer to incredulous customers who found that the vital meds they couldn’t afford had already been paid for.
For ten years, Walker, who owns, manages and runs Geraldine Drugs—the pharmacy and store that serves 900 souls in the tiny hamlet of Geraldine, Alabama—kept silent that the secret angel taking care of the medicinal needs of the needy was Hody Childress, air force vet and a farmer of modest means who lived mainly off his Social Security check.
One day in 2012, he walked into Geraldine Drugs and asked owner Brooke if there were families in town who couldn’t afford their meds.
“I told him, ‘Yes, unfortunately, that happens often,’” she recalled. “And he handed me a $100 bill, all folded up.”
“Here, this $100 is for anyone who can’t afford their prescription,” Hody said. “Do not tell a soul that the money came from me. Tell them it’s a blessing from God.”
A month later Hody Childress showed up with another $100 bill, with the same instructions. And so it continued, month after month, year after year, for ten years—the fund accumulating to thousands of dollars, and no one, not even Hody’s family, knowing who the secret angel was. The family took note of his frequent visits to the drug store, but gave it little significance as Geraldine Drugs is a popular and warm gathering place any time of day.
“He was a man of modest means,” says Brooke. “Giving $100 a month was quite a gesture. I knew that helping people was in his heart.”
Then some weeks ago Hody felt his body beginning to shut down. At age 80 he knew he didn’t have long to live. His first concern was the fund, his “blessing from God.” It needed to continue. He confided in his daughter, Tania Nix, who later said, “I was shocked—I had no idea that he was helping people at the drug store.”
A new plan was put in place. Ever since Tania revealed that the angel in their midst had been her dad, the people of Geraldine have been paying it forward, ensuring that his fund—now dubbed the Hody Childress Fund—will continue.
Because of Hody Childress, many people in Geraldine have lived and lived better, one of them commenting, “Hody was a true humble servant who will always be loved.”
And as local TV station WVTM-13 put it, “As Hody Childress starts his new life in heaven, his decade-old practice of helping the town folks will continue on Earth.”
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