BETHALTO, Ill. — We could all use a superhero right now. So, imagine the reaction in Bethalto, Illinois, when people looked out their windows to see Captain America.
"Some of the little kids I swear they thought I was really Captain America when I ran by," said Timothy Minnick.
Minnick is Captain America's alter ego. He was a police officer for 13 years before he opened his own gym, which is now shut down because of the coronavirus. But that doesn't mean he can't make a difference.
"Something positive for the kids," he said. "Something they can see without having to leave their house."
Now, Minnick is getting requests to show up at birthday parties.
"A lot of people are having parades, and I would drive through just to say hi," he told 5 On Your Side.
It's like Captain America once famously said in his comic book: "America doesn't hand you things on a silver platter. Sometimes all she offers is hope."
"That is my absolute goal," said Minnick. "Just to put a smile on someone's face during this time."
More of Mike Bush's Making a Difference:
- Fenton group delivers for restaurants and nurses
- St. Louis zookeepers adjusting to 'eerie' quiet of the Zoo without guests
- No party? No problem. Fire department celebrates 5-year-old’s birthday
- 'Don't forget the recoveries': St. Louis doctor reminds us to remember the positive outcomes from COVID-19
- Are people being called to become nurses because of COVID-19?
- St. Louis woman is 'second mom' to dozens of girls
- After receiving life-saving heart transplant, man becomes heart nurse