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280 residents Tad and Toni Hill believe it is their duty, pleasure and honor to help other people. Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Delivering meals to shut-ins and the elderly isn’t something new for Tad Hill.
He still vividly remembers one particular Thanksgiving when he visited an elderly woman with his mother, a social worker who also led a Meals on Wheels program.
As a 10-year-old, Tad said seeing a person dependent on an oxygen tank was a little scary, but her gratitude made an impression on him. He remembers her hugging him and telling him how wonderful it was to have him and his mother there.
“The thing that I took from that experience is that it feels good to help other people,” Tad said. “The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive, and when you are a kid you are like, ‘What? That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard.’ Then you get older and you realize life isn’t about your stuff, it is about the people you surround yourself with.”
Now, as an adult, Tad and his wife, Toni, and their three daughters will spend their Thanksgiving delivering meals through the Jimmie Hale Mission.
“Those to whom much is given, much is expected,” Tad said. “We are blessed, and we feel like it is our duty, pleasure and honor to help other people when we can.”
Tad said he thinks God built people to enjoy giving more than receiving, and that’s why he and his family will deliver between four and six meals on Thanksgiving with about 80 other volunteers who will be doing the same.
Toni went on to explain that their daughters are the other reason they enjoy giving back to their community. They want their children to know that not everyone lives the way they do.
Tad added that it’s more beneficial to create an environment for children where they appreciate what they have.
“You can view the world in one of two ways: You can look at all the stuff you wish you had and you didn’t, or you can look at all the stuff you do have and appreciate what you’ve got,” Tad said. “I don’t care what [stuff] you have, if you have the first attitude you are going to live your entire life unhappy, and if you have the second attitude you are going to live your life being happy and fulfilled.”
That’s why the Hills participate in all kinds of charitable projects, including sponsoring events like the Light the Night Walk and adopting families for Christmas.
“This thing that we are doing here [on Thanksgiving], in my opinion, is totally giving thanks and giving people something they can’t do or provide for themselves,” Toni said. “I like that, but there is also another side of me that likes to give a hand up, not just a handout.”
The Hills are also involved with serving others outside of Birmingham. Through the Freedom Financial branch they own off Valleydale Road, they support Freedom Financial Bank of Esperanza in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The bank offers loans to people who want to start their own small business involving anything from hair and makeup, making fish stew, owning a small deli and even doing small engine repair. Tad said the payback on these loans is always 100 percent.
“They are paying it back because they know, ‘Once I pay my loan back, somebody else can start a business down here,’ and that’s an amazing thing,” Toni said.
It all goes back to the Hills’ words: “Do anything. Do something.” They said it’s important to get involved in anything because once you begin, you realize what a reward it is. All of a sudden, lending a hand doesn’t feel like an obligation, it feels great — almost like something you are doing for yourself, Tad said.
“I encourage anybody really to get involved in anything,” Toni said. “Just start somewhere. Pick up something, and don’t wait for a perfect opportunity, because once you get involved people start going, ‘They’re willing to help.’ Then people will start bringing more opportunities to you.”
