ABC News 4: 'Peanut Dude' helps disabled woman move again
BY MONDAY, DECEMBER 16TH 2013
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) - On Dec. 5, Chris Bible pulled up beside something he never expected: 77-year-old Shirley Purnell was stranded on the side of the road.{}
"She's on the street corner, dead wheelchair," said Chris Bible, owner of The Peanut Dude boiled peanut stand. "I could see this lady, who I didn't know at the time, sitting in her chair, groceries on her back, all by herself."
A police officer was trying to assist Purnell, whose wheelchair batteries had died.
"As the cop does her thing, Mrs. Shirley just looks down like this," said Bible has he dropped his head into his hand. "I said to myself 'You know what baby? Not on my watch!' We're not going to let her dignity be robbed right here, right now."
Bible pulled over in his truck and offered to give Purnell and her wheelchair a ride home.
On the ride over, Bible found out more about Purnell and her life.
Purnell is a widow, partially handicapped, diabetic, has osteoporosis, arthritis and gout. On top of all of that, she can't afford to replace the batteries on her wheelchair.
Two batteries cost around $200.
"It's difficult," Purnell said. "It hurts when I first get up in the morning."
After learning more about Purnell, Bible decided to raise money and buy new batteries for her wheelchair.
Bible posted a picture of him and Purnell on his company's Facebook page and asked his customers to donate on her behalf.
"One of our friends told us about what The Peanut Dude is doing," said Beth Palmer, a customer. "It's important to give back to your community and he's facilitating that. So, we just wanted to support it."
In one day, Bible and his customers raised $402, enough money to pay for Purnell's batteries and gift her some extra cash.
"I was very surprised and I am grateful that he helped me but, I didn't know that all of this was going to happen," said Purnell.
Bible personally installed Purnell's batteries and delivered the money to her home.
ABC News 4: Boiled peanut stands hit with rising prices
BY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND 2011
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) - A simmering bag of boiled peanuts has become a Lowcountry staple. But, a recent peanut shortage will cost local businesses that much more to satisfy your peanut craving.
Chris Bible is the owner of The Peanut Dude, a boiled peanut stand on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant. Bible will soon have to pay 25 percent more for his peanuts.
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) - A simmering bag of boiled peanuts has become a Lowcountry staple. But, a recent peanut shortage will cost local businesses that much more to satisfy your peanut craving.
Chris Bible is the owner of The Peanut Dude, a boiled peanut stand on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant. Bible will soon have to pay 25 percent more for his peanuts.
"This is one of those challenging moments for an entrepreneur. You know I have to make that decision of do I pass this added cost on to my customers who are my livelihood and potentially lose in terms of volume," said Bible. "Or do I try to become more efficient as a business owner? Where can I sort of make up for that 25 percent increase to be a more efficient entrepreneur and business owner?"
Peanut brokers say there are two reasons why peanuts are scarce this year. One reason: The drought. Hot and dry weather cause a poor crop of peanuts. Another reason: farmers say they just didn't plant enough peanuts to meet the country's demand.
This isn't the first time Bible has been hit by a jump in prices.
"What has affected us the greatest over the years is propane costs. You know, one way that we've sort of countered that is we keep our peanuts fresh and hot in coolers now, as opposed to burning propane fuel throughout the day."
For now, Bible says his peanuts won't go up in price. Instead, he'll foot the extra bill himself.
"Hopefully y'all appreciate that and come buy a lot more boiled peanuts."
ABC News 4: Peanut Dude steps up to help Miss Shirley one last time
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9TH 2015
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) -- "Peanut Dude" Chris Bible says love is all he needs to give back. He says he tries to help others when he can, and that's how he met and came to help Miss Shirley.
Bible says it was chance that caused him to meet Shirley Purnell in one of her greatest times of need.
It was just over a year ago that he saw her stuck on a sidewalk in downtown Charleston. She was in her motorized wheelchair with groceries on her back -- but the batteries in her wheelchair were dead.
"The cop's doing her thing. Miss Shirley just looks down like this, and I said to myself, 'You know baby, not on my watch,'" Bible recalled of meeting Miss Shirley.
Where many people would drive by, Bible stopped, loaded her wheelchair into the bed of his truck and Miss Shirley in the front seat. A short drive later, Bible had a new friend he vowed to help -- and he did.
While many see Bible as just the Peanut Dude, to Miss Shirley he was a God-send.
Bible used his boiled peanut stand on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant to raise enough money to buy two new batteries for Miss Shirley, and some spending money.
It's that love that keeps Miss Shirley in Bible's heart now. But this week, Bible was called to a higher mission for Miss Shirley.
After suffering with diabetes, osteoporosis, embolism, arthritis, and gout for several years, she passed away a week ago. Her family had little money to pay her final expenses.
"To be called to another higher opportunity to shine, and then not even say...," Bible said. "It's never a yes or a no, it's 'How are we going to do this one?'"
Bible had just three days to raise $2,000 to help Miss Shirley's family.
He needed a miracle, and it came in the form of love and good will from the community. He raised the money in two days selling his children's book, "How the Peanut Dude Found Gratitude."
"We love how we can love to the capacity of which the resources we control allow us to love," he said.
Miss Shirley was laid to rest Friday at Scott's Mortuary in Moncks Corner, but she lives on with the Peanut Dude and his book. Both can be found on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant by the GDC home furnishings store.
Island Eye News: Peanuts, Gratitude And A Dog Named Hudsen
April 17th 2015
It took 8 years of research and thought for Chris Bible, aka The Peanut Dude, to publish his book, “How the Peanut Dude Found Gratitude.”
A moment that made it all worthwhile came when a middle school student came up to his Boiled Peanut food truck, regularly situated on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, and told Bible that the book had changed his attitude. “Hold the peanuts,” Bible, recalled enthusiastically.
“It turned me around. I said, ‘Are you trying to get some free peanuts?’ I asked him. “The kiddo said he had started focusing on what he had instead of all the things he didn’t have.” “I came out and started high fiving him and his friends,” recalled Bible, 36, on the verge of tears.
Bible’s mother and father were both military, and the family moved to Charleston from Hawaii when he was a toddler. Boiled peanuts conjure up many happy childhood memories for him.
He recalls family road trips to Orlando to make them with his Grandmother Bible. Through the years, he’d always made them for himself and for friends.
He’d worked in a variety of fields in his life, including food and beverage and a very successful stint in real estate during the boom in early 2000s.
He and his “business partner,” a yellow Labrador named Hudsen, were flat broke and nearly homeless in 2007. Dejected, yet inspired, he grounded himself in joyful memories of boiled peanuts, and sold his first bag of boiled peanuts in 2007. What Bible preaches in his ‘How the Peanut Dude Found Gratitude,’ book, he practices.
His enthusiasm is contagious, and he passes it along to his customers at the peanut stand, and elsewhere. He was profiled on ABC News for helping ‘Miss Shirley’ Purnell, who was stranded on a sidewalk in Charleston, with the batteries dead in her motorized wheelchair. “When I picked her up that day, she thought I was helping her. She was helping me, baby.”
“When she passed away and her family couldn’t pay to have her released to a funeral home, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ we were going to do this. It was just ‘how,’” he said. Through news and social media he made people aware of his mission and raised the money in two days at his stand, selling his peanuts and book.
Bible has another book idea in mind, and a brand new formula that allows him to ship his boiled peanuts worldwide. Frozen in a brine solution, someone in Connecticut can place an order and days later, bring their pot to a boil and have a house that smells that boiled peanuts. He wants to present his ideas to the panel of the television show, The Shark Tank, as well.
He said his book has been a hit with not only children, but also with adults. “I think adults can relate to the simple message and exercise in the book, of going down the letters of alphabet to write things they’re grateful for. You just can’t be unhappy and grateful at the same time.”
An avid kitesurfer and resident of Isle of Palms, Bible said he is just “riding the wave of life,” trying to have fun wherever it takes him, and help those he can, all the while trying to staying rooted in his own message.
“I got up this morning, and my hot water heater wasn’t working. The water was cold, but you know I was thankful that I had water. Most sadness comes from not having the right perspective. Gratitude, just gratitude and be thankful, baby.”
