SHENANDOAH, Pa. — Albert Victor starts every morning packing Gertrude Hawk candy bars to sell and support the businesses and nonprofits throughout his hometown of Shenandoah.
Never keeping the profits for himself, Victor's love for lending a helping hand got him his nickname, the Shenandoah "Candy Man."
“I like to help people around, and I just like to do it. It's nice to do it and helping the community out and everything,” he said.
Victor was inspired to volunteer in the community by his mother, who he lost to lung cancer in 2007. Since then, he's carried on her passion for giving back by helping organizations throughout Schuylkill County in any way he can.
“I just like to help, help businesses sell tickets like for the firehouse and everything. I think they're dying down right now. A lot of places are closing up and everything,” Victor mentioned.
Susan Williams from Downtown Shenandoah Incorporated shares how Victor helped surpass their goal during their latest fundraiser.
“Without Albert, many people wouldn't have known that our fundraisers were going on, and he's always in the community. He walks into all the businesses and all the doctors' offices and everywhere and shares the information, and they gladly support us through Albert's help,” she said.
Sometimes Victor puts the candy bag down to help out at Shenandoah One Stop on North Main Street, declining any paycheck the owners try to give him.
“Like if employees or anything if they were out, he's always come in and helped out. I did not have to worry about the store if someone's not going to show up or not,” added Falguni Patel, Shenandoah One Stop Owner.
From restocking coolers to selling chocolate bars to benefit the borough, Victor calls every organization he's a part of his family, never asking for anything in return.
“He is family at this point because he's always here. Anything, I mean birthday or anything, we're always doing it together,” Patel said.
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