Air Force veteran Charlie Hicks is committed to his routine.

Every single day for a decade, the 78-year-old would drive his truck to the Shrimp Basket, a Southern-style seafood restaurant chain, in Pensacola, Florida. There, he would enjoy a late-morning meal and oftentimes dinner, too — always with a side of gumbo and a touch of rice, no crackers on the side.

“It’s convenient, everything I could ever want to eat is here, so I’m a regular,” Hicks tells TODAY.com while at his favorite restaurant, seated at his usual table. “They practically see me the first thing every morning. They open at 11, and that’s when I show up.”

Charlie Hicks and Donell Stallworth sit at a table in Shrimp Basket in Pensacola Florida on Dec. 18.
Charlie Hicks and Donell Stallworth sit at a table in Shrimp Basket in Pensacola Florida on Dec. 18.Courtesy Donell Stallworth

Donell Stallworth, a chef at the Shrimp Basket, started working there before Hicks first showed up, and the pair struck up a friendship over the years.

“At my age, I don’t really mingle with any group or make friends that easy,” Hicks says, adding that he never married or had children. “I know he’s a chef, but I’m usually sitting there by myself, so we just have a good chat just about every day.”

Stallworth says Hicks is a daily source of inspiration and wisdom. For years, the pair has spoken daily about sports, “The Andy Griffith Show” reruns and, today, food.

“I wanted him to switch it up and try some grilled chicken and some green beans, so I just went back there and fixed it for him,” Stallworth tells TODAY.com while sitting across the table from Hicks, adding that today’s chat has been packed with laughter. “His jokes are dead on. I mean, they better than ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and they just keep coming, you hear me?”

But in early September, Hicks wasn’t feeling well enough to commute to his favorite eatery, so he asked the staff if they would deliver meals to his house a few miles away. They obliged, and for a couple days, staff leader Denise Galloway would drop gumbo off outside his door because he didn’t want to get her sick.

But then, on Sept. 11, Hicks fell in his home and couldn’t move.

“When people that are 78 fall, it’s a different ballgame than when you’re younger,” Hicks says. “I didn’t know what I was going to do, because after three or four hours laying on the floor, you wonder, ‘Am I going to get out of this?’”

Meanwhile, Stallworth went in for work a few miles away and noticed Hicks’ absence. When asked if anyone had spoken to him that day, his coworkers all said no. He tried to start his prep for the day, but instinct kicked in.

“All of a sudden, I’m like, that’s been too long, something was just off,” Stallworth says. “I come in in the mornings and Hicks is already here. We’re still about to open up, he’s already in the restaurant like he got his own key. That kind of got me … so I got my keys, and I just left.”

Stallworth was directed by Galloway to Hicks’ residence, and he knocked on the door twice with no answer, so he knocked a third time with gusto.

That’s when he heard a faint cry for help from inside. Thankfully, the door was unlocked, and he found Hicks on the ground.

“That was a hard thing to see him in that position,” Stallworth recalls.

Hicks and Stallworth take a selfie at the hospital.
Hicks and Stallworth take a selfie at the hospital.Courtesy Donell Stallworth

Hicks is diabetic and hadn’t taken his medicine that morning. He was so weak from dehydration he couldn’t speak.

“Denise here at the Shrimp Basket called 911 and they showed up pretty quick,” Hicks says. “If Donell hadn’t showed up, I was going to have to crawl out the front door and just wait till somebody found me on the sidewalk, but it didn’t go that far.”

Hicks had two broken ribs and was severely dehydrated when he was admitted into the hospital. He stayed there for a week, followed by physical rehab for another seven weeks.

“It was a two-month period where I was just bedridden,” Hicks says.

“I’m thankful to have my friend,” says Stallworth.

Now, Hicks has a walker, signed and gifted to him by the Shrimp Basket employees.

Hicks was gifted this walker by the Shrimp Basket staff.
Hicks was gifted this walker by the Shrimp Basket staff.Shrimp Basket

Casey Corbin, Shrimp Basket’s general manager, found Hicks an empty apartment next door to the restaurant, and he now lives just steps from his daily gumbo.

Jeff Brooks, brand president of Shrimp Basket, announced the chain, which has 18 locations, is offering customers a free cup of gumbo every Monday for three weeks as a gesture to “inspire more acts of kindness between neighbors.”

A cup of gumbo — Hicks' favorite — served at Shrimp Basket in Pensacola, Florida on Dec. 18.
A cup of gumbo — Hicks’ favorite — served at Shrimp Basket in Pensacola, Florida on Dec. 18.Courtesy Donell Stallworth

This first week, they gave away almost 1,000 cups of free gumbo — and they’ll be giving out many more to Hicks.

“Mr. Hicks, Donell and the Warrington, Pensacola team embody Shrimp Basket’s mission to put people first and have been an inspiration to all of us,” Brooks tells TODAY.com. “For that reason, we announced to our team earlier this week that we will be giving Mr. Hicks free gumbo for life, twice a day, every day, for lunch and dinner.”

Hicks says he appreciates all the love, but wants to bring attention to other older folks like him that might find themselves in a similar situation.

“If anybody knows somebody that reaches my age and lives alone, for God’s sake, check on them every once in a while,” Hicks says.

He says he’s reached the age where he needs “a little help,” and Stallworth and the rest of the folks at Shrimp Basket provide him with that.

“He means a lot to me,” Stallworth says. “You know, he’s Mr. Hicks, but he’s that uncle, that granddad, that best friend now. He’s all in one with me.”