A small town in South Carolina came together to rescue an unhoused man and his dog from the freezing cold when a rare winter storm hit St. George on January 25.
What does Christ-like love look like? It comes from a selfless heart that aches when our neighbors are struggling and refuses to rest until they receive the help they need. In this story, an entire town showed that love in action and changed one man’s life forever.
The story began when Carlos Canales spotted Chris Brannon and his dog, Mowgli, shivering in the freezing weather. Carlos felt a pull at his heart and handed over all the cash he had on him.
As the storm grew worse in late January, the image of the man wouldn’t leave his mind. He went back to check on Brannon and what he saw broke his heart.
“I went back to ask Chris if he wanted something to eat, and that’s when I saw the icicles on his beard,” he said.
Canales helped Brannon get some hot food and then headed home. But even at home, his heart would not rest. He told his wife about Brannon’s situation and what she said moved him.
“She just told me, ‘I think God is trying to tell you something.'” That quiet word from his wife sent him back out into the storm. He searched for Brannon and Mowgli but could not find them. So he posted on Facebook and asked the community for help.
The response came fast. “I got bombarded by phone call after phone call on Messenger,” he said.
Lisa Steward Westbury, a retired judge’s assistant and lifelong St. George resident, saw the post and stepped up. She and council member Ruthie Tripp followed tips from the community Facebook page and drove through town looking for Brannon. “He had icicles on his beard, that’s how cold it was and rainy,” Tripp recalled.
They found him and got him to a nearby hotel. By that point, the people of St. George had raised enough money for Brannon and Mowgli to stay for the week. “Our community, when we ask, we get,” Steward Westbury said.
More than 70 acts of giving followed. People sent cash, dropped off warm meals, and made sure Brannon and Mowgli had what they needed. “Some of the people that help really don’t have much at all and they’re giving,” Tripp said. Holly Noble, an EMT, saw the post and brought a winter coat for Mowgli. She did this while stretched thin herself.
“I literally had to borrow some gas money just to get to work to get to the next paycheck,” she said. But she did the math on her mileage and made the trip. She knew what Brannon was going through.
“I’ve slept in my truck with my dog before. I know what it’s like and thank God nobody judged me and I’m definitely not gonna sit there and judge him. I don’t know his story. I just wanted to help. I wanted to do what I could,” she said.
The local motel manager offered more nights of shelter for free. Everything the community gathered was brought to Brannon and Mowgli at the motel.
It is so amazing to see how one man’s selfless heart inspired an entire community to become a vessel of God’s love. May we all seek to have that same kind of heart—ready to love, ready to serve, and ready to act when others are in need.
WATCH: Strangers Unite to Save Homeless Man and His Dog in Freezing Weather
