OLEAN, N.Y. — When Dan Spring found out he would be honored with Olean YMCA’s “Salute to Olean” award for helping hurricane victims, he knew of one young boy who had to be included for performing a selfless act that resulted in a special connection.
The boy, Xander Jensen, 11, of Duke Center, Pa., had donated his most precious toy, a “Woody” doll from the Toy Story movie, to be shipped with supplies gathered by Spring for Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas. Spring, the manager of Pleasant Valley Greenhouses, and Dan Veno, a UPS driver, set up the collection effort in September.
Xander’s grandmother, Diane Baker of Duke Center, said she learned of the Hurricane Harvey collection through social media. She asked her grandson if he wanted to donate some things, and they headed to one of two drop points for supplies, the greenhouse Spring manages on Route 16.
“We got out a backpack and he put in some of his clothes (to donate) … but when he brought Woody out, I was shocked because Woody was so special to him,” Baker recalled. “But he said somebody else might be able to give (Woody) a good home.”
Xander, a fifth-grade student in the Otto-Eldred School District, and his grandmother tied Woody to the outside of the backpack containing clothes and supplies so the doll “could see the ride” down to Texas.
“He was one of my best friends,” Xander said of Woody.
Spring said Xander’s donation of his favorite toy was touching to him, because he was the first child to give something of his own to the collection.
What happened next astounded Spring and others who witnessed it.
Spring said when he and Veno arrived in Beaumont, Texas, with their truckloads of supplies, they encountered a group of people who helped unload several pallets of items.
“While we were unloading the truck, the trailer and U-haul, a guy saw the backpack and started bawling — he broke down bad,” Spring shared. “He said his son lost his Woody doll, and that was most important to him. He saw Woody’s hat float away in the flood.”
The Texas boy, Maddox, was so happy with the toy that he later connected with Xander via Skype so he could thank his new friend and visit with him.
“It really is a touching story because it meant a lot to Maddox,” Spring commented. “It was meant to be, I believe that 100 percent.”
It is for this reason that Spring invited Xander and his grandmother, among other volunteers who helped with the collection, to the YMCA’s award ceremony Thursday in Olean. Spring and Veno were two of 10 people honored.
Baker said she and Xander were pleased and surprised to be invited to the gala.
“We’d never been to anything this big,” Baker admitted.
For his part, Xander not only dressed up for the affair, but had a special adornment on his outfit — a Woody tie pin.
