the spirit of giving Nine year old reaches out to others It’s not always easy to think of others when you aren’t feeling well yourself, but in spite of his illness, nine-year-old Tyler Banker of Kendall does just that. “He’s had a lot of obstacles to overcome but rather than feel sorry for himself he decided to take control back and help other kids who might be in the same situation,” his mother, Jennifer Banker, said. Tyler, who was born with a suppressed immune system and requires monthly trips to Strong Hospital for blood transfusions and has had several operations, always takes a stuffed animal with him when he goes in for a procedure. It was on a trip to the hospital two years ago when Tyler realized he had forgotten to bring one of his favorite stuffed animals with him and his mother said they tried everything to console him. “The doctors had to take him away without his stuffed animal and it was heartbreaking,” Jennifer said. “When he was in the operating room his father and I ran down to the gift shop and bought him a stuffed dog. When he came out of the anesthesia he was just thrilled to see it.” When Tyler realized just how much he missed having his stuffed animal friends, he decided he wanted to buy stuffed animals for as many children as he could so they wouldn’t have to go through an operation alone. Last year, Jennifer said Tyler had saved his allowance and after Valentine’s Day she took him to buy the Valentine’s stuffed animals that had been discounted. “He was able to buy six stuffed bears and animals and we delivered them to the hospital,” his mother said. Buying those animals spurred Tyler’s interest to do more. “He called our friends and family and asked if they could save pop cans so he could take them back for the refund to help buy stuffed animals,” Jennifer said. “We went recently and cashed in 510 cans and bottles and took that money, along with Tyler’s allowance that he’d saved, and went to buy some stuffed toys.” Jennifer and Tyler’s father, Kevin, went to Tractor Supply Co. in Brockport because they knew the store was having a 75 percent off sale on stuffed toys. “I’d been speaking with Marlena (Kuhn) from the store and she knew we were coming in,” Jennifer said. Kuhn said when Tyler came in with his Pringles can full of cash to buy the animals her heart melted. “I helped him pick out toys then went to ask Bob (Harker, the manager) what we could do to help,” she said. “It was so sweet that he is doing this to help the other kids.” Harker offered the use of a shopping cart and told Tyler to fill it up and the store would donate the difference in price from what money Tyler had brought with him. Kuhn said Harker asked Tyler why he was collecting the money and buying the gifts and Tyler told him, “It gets lonely in the hospital and it’s nice to have an animal to play with.” Tyler took his time, his mother said, and chose toys that he thought would be good for the hospitalized children. Because of the generosity of the store managers, he was also able to pick up a few other toys that didn’t make loud noises or require batteries. “We walked out of there with four bags of toys for the children at the hospital,” Jennifer said. Because of Tyler’s age and health issues, he isn’t allowed to personally deliver the animals to the children, but his mother said he will probably write a note and attach it to the animals this time, before they get delivered to the children. February 12, 2006 |
