Great things started in the kitchen of a modest home in Mapleton Depot, Penn. It wasn’t an invention to make life easier, or a cure for cancer, but the implications and lasting effect of what happened touched the lives of hundreds of people, directly and indirectly.
Nathan GlasgowNathan Glasgow is a regular nine year old boy who just accomplished extraordinary things. Before the idea of Nathan’s Heart Project was hatched in his head, he got into trouble with his mom for trying to take his big box of crayons to school. His big, nice box of crayons were to be used at home, and he broke the rules by repeatedly trying to take them to school. When his Mom questioned him about it, he told her he just wanted to have nice crayons to share with his classmate, who only had broken ones. Nathan and his Mom, Crystal Dobbs, decide to buy new crayons for all the kids in his class, so everyone could enjoy nice crayons. This planted a seed in Nathan’s mind, and his generous spirit took over when he was talking to his grandma on the phone one afternoon.
Kathy Perkins is Nathan’s grandma. She sometimes rides along with her significant other, Kurt Keilhofer, who hauls for Schroeder Moving out of Appleton, Wis., and has for the past 22 years. Kurt and Kathy were traveling between Nevada and Texas, hauling a trade show load they had some extra time on. Kurt decided to take the more scenic routes, and ended up going through Post, Texas.
“I was planning on going through Clovis, N.M.,” Keilhofer says, “and somehow missed the turn. We ended up on US 380, which took us right through Post. If I hadn’t missed the turn, this probably wouldn’t have happened. You have to think there was a higher power working here.”
The day Kurt and Kathy went through Post, they noticed an elementary school that had recently burned down. Kathy happened to be talking to Nathan on the phone about it, and encouraged him to look it up on the Internet, to see if they could find any information. Nathan and his mom found articles about the school, and when they read that 16 of the 3rd, 5th and 5th-grade classrooms had been completely destroyed, Nathan decided to help.
With a little help from his parents, Nathan made collection boxes and took them to local businesses in his area. They set up a Facebook page, and got the word out to their neighbors that an elementary school in Texas needed help. Nathan promoted his idea by marching in three Halloween parades, and got his whole community involved in the effort.
In the end, Nathan’s “Heart Project” collected 42 cartons of supplies, totaling 1,300 pounds. Getting the supplies from Pennsylvania to Texas wasn’t a problem, because Schroeder Moving made sure Kurt had a load going through Post, and donated the space and shipping costs to the project.
“I’m kind of partial to this project,” Keilhofer says, “not just because of Nathan, but because I was able to be there in the beginning and the end of it.”Nathan is enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame, he’s been interviewed for several newspaper articles and is having a Skype television interview with a news agency out of Lubbock, Texas. He’s not sure what he’s going to tackle next, but the determination and kindness he demonstrated is enough to be an example for all of us. If one little boy can touch the lives of so many people, we can all make an effort to do the same.
Thanks, Nathan.
Kurt Keilhofer (left) with (from left) Mindy Dalby (2nd grade), Heather Hill (1st grade), Angie Walden (2nd grade), Mary Short (1st grade) and Jason Walden.
“I got to the school just after lunchtime on Saturday,” says Keilhofer. “Four teachers and two of their spouses came to help unload.” Pictured here are Mary and Bill Short.
“Nathan can rest easy,” Keilhofer says, “knowing that the kids at Post Elementary have a big supply of crayons!”
