One Woman's Kindness Started A Ripple Effect Of Joy: "The Good You Put Out Comes Back!"
Christy Conrad normally didn’t stop to pick up strangers, but one especially hot and humid summer morning in 2021, the Cabot, Arkansas, mother of six felt compelled to pull over.
Christy had a small business shopping and delivering groceries to seniors and shut-ins. Every day, she drove her Prius all over town, and frequently spotted the same man walking along Main Street to the highway and crossing a dangerous overpass with no sidewalk. Rolling down her window, she asked, “Can I give you a ride?”
The man gratefully accepted, and Christy learned his name was Bill Moczulewski, a 57-year-old legally blind Walmart custodian who worked the overnight shift. Bill lives 5 miles from the store. Sometimes co-workers gave him a lift, but mostly Bill walked — 2 hours each way.
“I will give you my number,” Christy said as she dropped him off. “Give me a call if you need a ride.”
But Bill is a proud man and hates asking for help.
Christy was disappointed when Bill didn’t call. But a few afternoons later, she spotted him walking to work again
“Hop in,” she said, and when they pulled into Walmart she told him, “I was serious — give me a call when you need a ride.”
“I will,” Bill said, but Christy had her doubts. So she posted Bill’s description and circumstances on a local Facebook group. If you see him walking, text me so I can go give him a lift.
Not only did people text Bill sightings, soon the group page was so congested with messages of support and others asking how they could help that Christy created a dedicated group: Mr. Bill’s Village.
When Christy’s Prius died, and she had to drive the family’s gas guzzler pickup with no air-conditioning, she stopped doing deliveries — the gas cost more than she was earning. But she still gave Bill rides every chance she could.
“I’m coming to get you,” she phoned him one morning during a torrential downpour.
Christy couldn’t always get away to pick up Bill — especially after her husband, Jason, was laid off from his job. But by then, Mr. Bill’s Village had over 6,000 members with hundreds competing to give him rides. And Bill accepted, having discovered he enjoyed the company.
When Christy learned that Bill’s income didn’t always stretch to pay his bills and buy enough food, she started an account at the local super-market. Others funded gift cards at local restaurants.
As things turned out, Christy herself was also the recipient of neighbors’ generosity. When a local car dealer heard about Christy and Bill, he wanted to help and gave Christy a reliable minivan with much better gas mileage- — on the very same day Jason found a new job!
“I’m living proof that the good you put out there will come back in ways you never expected,” says Christy.
As for Bill, “I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends,” he says. “There are so many nice people in this world, and I get to meet a lot of them!”
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