He gathers the buggies outside the Publix supermarket just over a mile from the line between Jefferson and Shelby counties.
He’s 54 years old and doesn’t look a day over 34.
He’s 5-foot-6, 145 pounds soaking wet. It’s cloudy and drizzling. The temperature hovers in the low 50s and falling. He limps as he pushes the buggies toward the front door of the store.
And he’s the most inspiring, positive, influential bag boy in America.
“Hi, Joey!” says the 40-something-year-old mother with two kids in tow.
“Hey, Joey!” says the elderly woman who parked in the handicapped space.
“Hi, Joey!” says the young father who is stopping by Publix with a kindergartner and a toddler in tow.
This is the story about a man who for decades has shown the world what kindness is all about.
It’s the story of a man I have known for 20 years, a man I wish I had known longer.
He’s a man who is never tardy to work, has never met a stranger and has become one of the most loved grocery store workers in America.
“After this story comes out on AL.com, I may not have time for the little people,” Joey Hale chuckled, his breath steaming his glasses.
For 22 years, McCalla, Alabama’s Joey Hale has worked at the Publix supermarket at Valleydale Village shopping center in north Shelby County.
“I’ve worked there since it opened,” said Joey, his speech a bit shaky after a lifetime of challenges.
Twenty-two years of building relationships with co-workers and customers has turned Joey into a hit, and the love others have for him really does make shopping a pleasure.
I met him shortly after the Publix store opened in 2003. “How can a man be that kind?” I thought to myself as I drove home that day. I soon found out why Joey was so high on life. Because more than once, Joey almost lost his.
It was June 19, 1976, when Darby and Jeanne Hale were headed up U.S. Highway 78 toward Forestdale, Alabama. The three Hale children, 7-year-old Keith, 6-year-old Kerri and 5-year-old Joey, were in the back seat.
The out-of-control car was headed toward theirs, and there was no time. All of the Hale family members were injured.
“A 3-inch piece of my femur was gone,” Joey’s father, Darby, told me. “I had 5 broken ribs, a broken jaw and an embolism. I was in a body cast for 6 months.”
“Kerri got the worst of it,” said Joey and Kerri’s mother, Jeanne. “Kerri suffered two broken legs and a traumatic brain injury. To this day, Kerri has no feeling on one side of her face. One of her eyes was closed from the age of 6 to 13.”
Five-year-old Joey suffered a broken humerus (upper arm), a damaged ear and a concussion.
“Joey was injured badly, but we thought we might lose Darby and Kerri,” said Jeanne.
“My wife stayed strong those first few nights in the hospital,” said Darby. “She knew Kerri and I were touch and go, but she never wavered.”
Joey Hale put on his mask and rubber gloves. It was January of 2021, and COVID fears were rampant. There inside the front door of Publix, Joey dipped his rag in a bucket of chemicals and scrubbed down the handles of every buggy returned from the parking lot. There were no complaints from Joey, who told me, “I’m just doing what I can do to keep our customers safe.”
It was seven years after the accident. Twelve-year-old Joey Hale experienced headaches a few months after he ran into a metal gate playing catch with a friend at Saint Rose Academy in Birmingham.
“Joey had quite the knot on his head,” said Jeanne of the 1983 injury.
Through stomach aches and vomiting, Joey never complained.
If Joey Hale was challenged in 1976 and 1983, he would be challenged again in 1984.
Joey was diagnosed with a Grade 3 astrocytoma, a brain tumor. Joey had surgery at Brookwood Medical Center in Homewood.
The good news? Joey’s tumor was benign.
The bad news? Joey began having seizures, which did neurological damage.
Joey couldn’t speak for 10 months. He did his best to learn to walk again, but his wheelchair became his friend. Radiation damaged Joey’s hearing, and his vision was impaired.
Joey’s challenges had just begun.
It was a few years back. Joey Hale chatted up another customer at Publix. Joey had been working at the store for a while, and he had tried his best to remember the names of every customer he met. Joey always asked customers to help him find ways to remember their names.
“I remember a customer named Mrs. Boatwright,” Joey told me.
“I asked Mrs. Boatwright how I could remember her last name and she said, ‘Think of it like this, Joey: I don’t have a boat, and you ain’t right,” chuckled Joey. “I never forgot her name.”
There was something about the San Diego Chargers. Maybe it was Joey’s older brother Keith who turned Joey on to the NFL team. Maybe it was the footlocker with the Chargers logo he received from his parents. Fourteen-year-old Joey Hale dreamed of going to a Chargers game. Sure, he was in a wheelchair trying his best bounce back in 1985, but his dream was his dream.
“Joey’s father, Darby, was a plumber,” former Auburn tailback Terry Henley told me. “I got to know Darby when he did some work for me and a few of my business partners. He told me about Joey, and I made some calls.”
Before Joey knew it, he was flying to Chargers pre-season camp in California, meeting the likes of quarterback Dan Fouts and running back Lionel “Little Train” James of Auburn.
Joey Hale was trying his best to stage a comeback, but he had trouble seeing and hearing and walking. As he met the Chargers players and tried his best to converse, longtime Chargers public relations chief secretary Pat Rogers told Joey if he could walk the following year when he returned to visit, a limousine would be sent for Joey.
It was 1986 when the Chargers made good. The boy they saw a year before stood up from his wheelchair, shaky but successful. That limousine was delivered and carried Joey and his family to the stadium to see a game, a press box visit included.
“To see Joey stand up in front of all those NFL players was amazing,” Terry Henley told me.
“Joey’s faith has always impressed me. He used his faith during those difficult times, just like he does today.”
It’s any weekday at Publix supermarket at Valleydale Village. Joey Hale slowly walks the woman’s buggy to her car, chatting all the way. The woman walks slowly, comfortable with sharing details about her family and handing Joey a piece of paper.
On the paper is a prayer request. It’s one of many requests Joey is given during the course of a day. Joey is picked up by his mother about 6:30 p.m. as he concludes his shift.
Joey reads each of the prayer requests and prays for the customers before he goes to bed.
It was slow going back in Birmingham for Joey Hale in 1986. He was a few years from attending high school at John Carroll Catholic, and Joey’s Saint Rose Academy classmate Danny Wolfe was put in charge of helping Joey get around school for two years. Danny was quickly inspired by Joey, telling me, “Even back then, Joey’s positivity and happiness was inspiring. I wished others could be as positive as Joey.”
Joey Hale fought his fight. He had seven brain surgeries, most of them replacing or repairing shunts that were put in his brain. He was 16 years old when most of the surgeries took place. As Joey grew into adulthood, Joey’s motor never slowed. He worked at Hamburger Heaven, Leonardo’s, Longhorn Steaks, the Colonnade movie theater and the Mountain Brook YMCA.
It was in 2003 Joey landed his gig at Publix. He was 32 years old. His life was about to change, and he was about change the lives of others.
Like Joey, she was a student at Saint Rose Academy. Dana Abercrombie was much younger than Joey, but she remembers praying alongside her classmates for Joey’s wellbeing.
“I was in the third grade, and Joey was recovering,” Dana told me. “The sisters always called Joey a walking miracle. We would pray that Joey would be spared from suffering.” Little did Dana Abercrombie know that over 20 years later, Joey Hale would come into her life again.
It was years ago Dana Abercrombie thought about doing a documentary on Joey. She stopped by Publix at Valleydale Village, and what she saw convinced her that Joey’s story had to be told in film.
“An old man slowly returned his buggy to Joey. Joey reached out and fist-bumped the man, and the two of them smiled,” said Dana. “In that moment, I knew Joey was inspiring people. I’ve told Joey that I’m sorry more people around the world don’t know him.”
Joey Hale bags the groceries a bit slower than most. That’s fine with Publix customers, for Joey brings them peace and patience. The store managers give Joey some space, pitching in to help bag groceries if they feel the process is slowing down. And it seems as if every customer tells Joey they would love to have him help them to their car, even if only an item or two has been purchased.
A walk with Joey to the parking lot is a must.
The sight is amazing, Joey Hale spreading the Word to prisoners.
Joey is not only one of the most inspirational bag boys in America, he’s one of the most amazing preachers.
“I got involved in children’s ministry years ago at the Church at Brook Hills,” Joey told me. “A person asked if anyone was interested in a prison ministry, and I signed up.”
For years, Joey Hale opened his Bible and opened his heart, and prisoners welcomed Joey’s words.
It was a few months ago when a Publix customer stopped to chat with Joey. “Your father is a plumber, right?” asked the man. “I just wanted to thank him for the work he did at my house.”
“You mean you couldn’t find anyone better?” Joey asked.
Joey and the man laughed.
The man drove home with a story to tell.
Dana Abercrombie’s movie, “A Walk With Joey” has been a hit. It chronicles Joey’s struggles and Joey’s comeback, and it’s being shown at a church or a business or a sidewalk film festival near you.
“Joey Hale has been the greatest example of how to live in Christ,” said Dana. “Every time I walk into the store and see Joey talking with people, he amazes me.”
Joey Hale works a full-time schedule at Publix. He tells me he wants to work until retirement age, which gives him another decade of turning customer’s shopping trips into an adventure. Those he has inspired know what Joey has done for them.
Said Danny Wolfe, Joey’s former classmate, “I have always been moved by Joey’s attitude. We all have struggles, but to look at Joey, who had real struggles … it gets me thinking about having a positive attitude.
“I wish everyone was like Joey and could make our lives better.”
Said filmmaker Dana Abercrombie, “Joey told God that if He would heal him, Joey would promise to live his life in Christ. Joey is doing that today.”
Said Joey’s friend Terry Henley, “Joey is the real deal. He’s deep in his faith, and he’s bringing joy to others.”
Said Joey’s father, Darby, “Joey has changed my life. My son is a much bigger man than I will ever be. I might be bigger physically, but Joey is bigger than me in so many ways”
Said Joey’s mom, Jeanne, “I truly believe God spared Joey’s life so he could be a blessing to others. He brings empathy and love to so many. We are proud of far he has come.”
And Joey? He reminds us that being kind doesn’t cost a thing, and the blessings he has received are what brings his kindness out.
“After what Jesus did for me, it’s easy being kind,” he said. “He brought me back. I could have been a vegetable.”
Joey Hale is grateful for his life as he surrounds himself with good news and good people.
“I love being with people, I love helping people, and I love making money,” Joey chuckled.
I believe Joey also likes being a little bit famous.
“Hey, Joey,” they yelled recently in Cullman.
“Hi, Joey,” they yelled recently in Fairhope.
“Hey, Joey,” they yelled recently at an airport in Dallas, Texas.
“You know I’m a celebrity, don’t you?” Joey laughed.
“A movie star, too.”
If you would like to book a showing of “A Walk With Joey”, contact Dana Abercrombie at (205) 821-7322 or email her at [email protected]. You can also visit the movie’s website at: joeyhalemovie.com/