Jimmy’s dream: Smiling from a Hy-Vee truck

Sometimes a smile is enough.

Jimmy Gibney wasn't taking any chances.

Six years ago, Jimmy pasted his picture onto a toy truck before his interview for a job at Hy-Vee.

“You don't know me,” he told the interviewer, “but I'm an Eagle Scout.

“I'm a Big K (Kennedy High School swim team) letter winner.

“I'm a hard worker.

“Some day, I'm gonna have my face on a truck.”

That some day is now.

Smiling from the passenger side of 22 Hy-Vee trailers is Jimmy Gibney, 26, parking-lot cart attendant at Wilson Avenue Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids.

“I'm happy with Hy-Vee,” he says. “It's good for Jimmy. They pay me. A little extra, they do for me.”

He flashes his 500-megawatt smile.

“A smile in every aisle.”

He turns both thumbs up. He wriggles them back and forth. He smiles.

“He really puts a strong face on what people are able to do when they are given the chance and get the support,” says his proud mother, Lisa Gibney of Rockville, Md. “It is really rewarding as a mom.”

Jimmy was adopted from Mexico at age 5 by Lisa and her ex-husband, Jerry Gibney of Palo. What appeared to be a language barrier turned out to be a brain injury.

With love and understanding, Jimmy persevered. He became a Scout. He swam the butterfly. He graduated from Kennedy in 2003. Today he lives at Linnhaven for special-needs adults in Cedar Rapids. He rides the bus to work nearly every day.

“I think it's really true,” says his mother, “that if God closes a door, he opens a window.”

Every year Jimmy hoped to see his picture on the side of a truck, an honor for only a select few exceptional employees. When it didn't happen, he simply shrugged. “It's just somebody else's turn,” he'd tell mom. “I'll be on it someday.”

So he gathered shopping carts. He bagged groceries. He flirted with Connie Heidemann, human resources manager.

“Jimmy flirts with all the girls,” Connie says, laughing.

“I'm just kiddin',” he says.

Of course, he is, but everybody loves Jimmy.

The crowd swelled to more than 50 friends last fall when Jimmy's truck was unveiled. Everybody ate cake. They patted him on the back.

“Awesome,” Jimmy says. “It was a surprise.”

Jimmy loves to listen to Elvis and Patsy Cline. He mows the lawn, rakes leaves, cleans house. He works out at the Y. He knows about the wall of fame at Hy-Vee headquarters in West Des Moines.

“I want to do 40 years,” Jimmy says. “Get my picture on the wall.”