Virginia Beach, Va. - NewsChannel 3 went on a mission to surprise a business owner in Virginia Beach.
We went out to Arrowhead Plaza Shopping Center in Virginia Beach to surprise John Hodges the owner of Superior Pest Control.
Amy Garcia wrote us an email telling us about Hodges.
We even solicited help from his employees including Rachel Shattuck.
It was pretty hard keeping John at his business. He was leaving to go get pizza for his mother because she does not drive. Shattuck stepped in to stop him and volunteered to get the pizza.
Little did John know that she was in on our little surprise.
A group of parents wanted us to honor John for a book club he started for students in his community.
About 100 kids from the Arrowhead and Point of View communities receive the monthly treat of candy, school supplies and books. Amy says it's a big deal for her seven year old daughter Elizabeth.
"And then those books, we read over and over again. She's a struggling reader and she's getting better because she has this book to look forward to every month."
I received multiple emails about this book club, including one from Samantha Bassett.
"His commitment to this community goes above and beyond the norm and I truly feel that he is a perfect nominee for the People Taking Action award. Please consider him."
She got a little emotional talking about this, so too did some of John's employees like Delena Golden. I asked why? "Oh because he does give a lot and we appreciate it too. And just hearing everybody saying the things they're saying is wonderful."
For those reasons we presented John with a People Taking Action award and a $300 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank.
John was very appreciative and says doing this is important to him. "Just something I like to do and I've been in business 30 years and I want to give back to my community."
