OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — It’s that time of the year when people are in the giving mood. For one custodian with Jenison Public Schools, that giving spirit meant a big surprise in a moment that was captured on video and is now getting lots of likes on social media.
At Jenison Kids First Elementary, John Swift is known as Grandpa John.
Teacher Lori Dood tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE, “He is just a staple in our building.”
Swift is 86 years old, though you wouldn’t know it.
He said, “Well, I exercise every other day and my wife is disabled. So, I help take care of her and we’re planning on celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in 14 years and I want to be here.”
He also loves to drive and had casually mentioned to a coworker that he needed some new tires because, “I wasn’t getting the traction that I needed for winter and I wanted to go to Marquette for the holidays and we get a little bit of snow in Marquette.”
That coworker he’d confided in, Dood, had an idea for the rest of the team. She reached out to the rest of the staff, asking, “What do you think about showing Grandpa John how thankful we are for him?”
Grandpa John had never actually asked for any help. Still, the idea took off.
“The whole building contributed and it ended up being more than tires. We were able to get him gift cards and just some extra special things just to show him how much we appreciate him,” said Dood.
When he went to pick up the car with new tires, Grandpa John had no idea that the bill had already been taken care of. The Zeigler tire shop had a camera rolling.
“It blew me away. I almost broke into tears and still do thinking about what they did because they’re special,” said Grandpa John adding that, “All I do is my job but they make it worth coming to work.”
“There’re people that you meet in your life that just make your life brighter and he’s one of those people and he touches every single person in our building. It doesn’t matter if you’re three or you’re 10 or you’re an adult. It doesn’t matter what you do here. He makes you feel special and we wanted to make him feel special, too,” said Dood.
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