In chilled temperatures, on the brink of dropping dangerously low for Georgia, a homeless man in need of warmth stands by the side of an interstate exit. He holds a sign that reads: “Waiting on a blessing, anything helps.”
This was the scene Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Todd Heller, 39, witnessed while driving an off-ramp of the highway on Jan. 17. “It was around 11 a.m., I believe,” the officer tells The Epoch Times, speaking of the encounter. He describes the individual as a black man in his late 20s or early 30s.
In particular, the words “Waiting on a blessing” captured the officer’s attention. As someone of faith, he saw an opportunity to help a fellow human being while also performing his duty as a police officer—a job he considers his calling. The officer pulled over.
“I asked him what kind of blessing he was waiting on, and he said ‘anything,’ and he asked me if I had a blanket,” Sgt. Heller tells the newspaper.
Fresh out of blankets, he offered to drive him to the Walmart just over the interstate and buy him one.
“He was a little hesitant at first, but I stuck out my hand and introduced myself, and I told him it‘d be my treat, and I’d be happy to help him,” the officer says. “He eventually decided to go with me.”
It wasn’t just faith and duty, nor simply the man’s sign, that spurred on the officer’s act of compassion that day; he also knew something the homeless man might not have known: temperatures were going to drop well below freezing that night, and he would need protection.
To get him the gear he needed, the officer took him on a bonafide shopping trip to Walmart, visiting the camping section with a shopping cart and stocking up on goods and equipment.
“I knew he needed to have some really warm stuff in order to be outside,” Sgt. Heller says. “I got him the best, the warmest sleeping blanket they had, I got him gloves, and socks, and thermal underwear, and hand warmers, and foot warmers, and everything because it was going to be 16 degrees.”
All the while, they talked about what led to the man’s homeless situation. “He had fallen on hard times and hadn’t gotten a lot of support from family,” Sgt. Heller says. “He was currently looking for work but hadn’t found stable work yet.”
The expenses amounted to over $150. Further generosity was then extended when Sgt. Heller offered to buy him food. “He said, ‘No, you’ve done enough,’” the officer says. “He seemed very thankful.”
It’s not known if the blankets ended up keeping the homeless man warm that night, as the officer hasn’t seen him since their shopping trip to Walmart.
Sgt. Heller’s good deed might have flown under the radar, too, had he not submitted his body camera footage to his superior, and had it not been selected to be audited by his Lieutenant, Roger Bell, who discovered the act of kindness and helped make it go viral.
“I guess he just stumbled upon this video,” Sgt. Heller says. “He told me he was very proud of me and that I had done something really good for somebody.”
Acts of charity such as this one aren’t unusual for the officer of some 17 years with the department. He’s been involved in food banks, Habitat for Humanity, and buying Christmas presents for kids from needy families.
The officer has inspired a material difference in others. But what drives him to serve others with such zeal?
Each and every day while working and serving his community, faith plays a big role in how the officer conducts himself and treats others, he says. It’s one of the reasons he became a police officer in the first place.
“To me, it’s continuing to be a servant,” he says. “Police officers, they do this job because it’s a calling—it’s not just a job for us, it’s a calling.”
