A farmer secretly paid pharmacy bills of those who couldn't afford them. No one knew until his death

Providing aid to people in need is something that anyone with an abundance of resources should practice. However, we seldom expect people with limited wealth and resources to help others but the story of Hody Childress will restore your faith in humanity. The best kind of help is the one that is done silently and without expecting anything else in return and this farmer from the small town of Geraldine, Ala, did exactly that, reports The Washington Post. 

Childress lived off a small retirement savings income but wanted to do his part in helping others. He went to Geraldine Drugs around ten years ago and asked owner Brooke Walker if there were any families in town that couldn't afford to pay for their medication. Walker recalled, "I told him, ‘Yes, unfortunately, that happens often.' And he handed me a $100 bill, all folded up." He asked her to distribute it to everyone who could not buy their medicines. Moreover, he did not want anybody to know about his donation and told Walker, "Don’t tell a soul where the money came from — if they ask, just tell them it’s a blessing from the Lord." 

He came the next month to hand Walker another folded-up $100 cash. He did this every month for years until he became too weak to make the journey late last year due to the consequences of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Walker said that when Childress died on New Year's Day at the age of 80, she decided to inform his family about the donations that had aided several hundred individuals in the farming community, which is roughly 60 miles from Huntsville.  

Tania Nix, Childress' daughter, said that her father told her about his donation before his death. She said, "It was just who he was — it was in his heart." She added, "He didn’t spend a lot of money in life, but he always gave what he could. If he took you out to eat, you had to be quick to grab the ticket, or he was paying for it." She talks more about the kind of man her father was and how he dedicated his life to caring for others. Nix's mother, Peggy Childress, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and eventually couldn't walk, so her father spent years caring for her and carrying her to and from places she wanted to go.

She said, "Everyone in town remembers my dad carrying her up to the top row of the bleachers to watch the Friday night ballgames at the high school. He continued to do that until he had heart surgery in 1998 and could no longer lift her." Nix thinks that her mother's medical bills might have inspired her father to donate to the pharmacy. She explained, "I’m not sure exactly what inspired him to start taking $100 bills to the drugstore, but I do know that when my mom was sick, her medications were expensive."

Nix and Walker had witnessed several stories of people who received help from Childress anonymously. A mother who could not afford a $600 EpiPen for her son could do so and she never knew who helped her until after his death. Walker shared an instance in which a single mother and her daughter both needed medication that their insurance could not cover. Walker claimed that when she paid for the drug using Childress's fund and delivered the woman the prescription with the receipt attached, the woman broke into tears.

Walker expressed gratitude to Childress for entrusting her with his $100 dollars month after month. Moreover, the people of Geraldine are joining in to keep Childress' legacy alive by donating to the pharmacy. Walker said, "We’re calling it the Hody Childress Fund, and we’re going to keep it going as long as the community and Hody’s family wants to keep it alive."