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Subscribe to RSSA 9-year-old boy has donated his all-expenses paid trip to Disney World to the family of a fallen soldier. WHDH-TV's Reid Lamberty reports.
Brendan Haas earned a prize any young kid would appreciate — an all-expenses paid trip to Disney World. Instead of going, though, the Massachusetts boy gave the vacation to the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Haas earned the trip through a trading contest on Facebook he set up to help out a military family. He got the idea from the story of a man who traded up from a red paper clip to a house.
In February, Brendan and his mother Melissa set up the "Soldier for a Soldier" Facebook page in an attempt to trade up from a toy soldier to a Disney trip.
Through a series of trades on the social network site, he managed to amass Disney gift certificates worth almost $900 as well as airfare and a stay at a Disney resort hotel.
On Memorial Day, the boy pulled the name of 2-year-old Liberty Hope Steele out of a hat. She is the daughter of U.S. Army Lt. Timothy Steele, 25, who was killed last August in Afghanistan.
“I think it would make them a lot happier,” Brendan Haas said.
It turned out that Timothy Steele’s parents live in nearby Duxbury, Mass., so Brendan went over to the family’s home and surprised the soldier’s parents with the news of the trip.
The story was first reported by NBC station WHDH-TV.
“Tim was pretty special to us,” Jack Steele, Timothy’s father told WDHT-TV. “He knew what he wanted to do at a very young age.”
Haas' ingenuity, sacrifice and thoughtfulness led to an outpouring of admiration on Facebook.
“Your one amazing young man,” wrote Ann Marie Smith Braga, “Our family lives on Hanscom AFB in Bedford, Mass. We are an active duty Army family. I want to thank you from all the Army families here at Hanscom.”
“Your parents must be so proud of you,” wrote Cheryl Simoes-Buente. “I hope you always will be such a caring and amazing person. God bless you for your thoughtfulness!!!”
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What a great kid
parents should be proud for raising such a wonderful kid!
What a great story. This kids parents should be very proud of their son and the job they did raising him. He realized that the trip would mean so much more to the family of the fallen soldier than it would to him. He gave up a dream trip for himself to help put some happiness in the lives of the family of this fallen warrior. The world needs more people like this kid.
This young man is my hero!
Such a beautiful beautiful child, I can only imagine how proud his parents must be. It's wonderful to see some light in such dark times.
This kid is awesome! I hope my little ones grow up to be as kind as Brendan Haas.
A good boy. But, just to encourage more killers to invade other countries.
Way to be a schmoo 'natural being'.
I think a fund should be set up for people to donate $1 and $1 only to pay for him to have a trip also.
I would gladly drop at least $50 on that.
Spoken like a true moonbat. The troops don't start wars, politicans do. I bet you think that charity is the government's job to be paid for with other people's money.
Kids like these give me hope in the future, and in humanity as a whole.
This young man was raised with great values. Think of others before yourself.
Good for you young man, it sounds like you have a very good heart.
THIS CHILD has reignited my hope for the future of our existence. Far too often have I had the displeasure of witnessing the greed and selfishness that we as a species are capable of. Perhaps if there are more children like this, our future won't look so hopeless.
Abyzmi: If there were 50 kids out of 100 who had the brain power to conceive an idea like this and carry it through; perhaps. However for every one child who can read, think, and write in today's America there are 70 who perform abysmally. Most children can not put a thought to paper without throwing an "lol" in the sentence somewhere.
There may be some hope for the USA after all (with more kids & parents like these).
I agree this is awesome! Just shows that there is still hope for us and future generations after all. This kid is a great example of what really counts in a person and the values we should all strive to teach our kids. Not the BS worthless examples we see common place everyday on TV ect.
Hats off to this kid and his parents for the way they have raised him so far. I hope others (parents, kids, average joes alike) can learn from this kid. Great to hear about something that is positive and actually worth being news.
I won't be surprised if someone steps up and gives this kid another trip to Disney or something else for doing this (though the reward for helping someone should be enough and is much better than anything else, more of a philosophical argument there I'd say, but i digress).
Again way to go! I wish this kid and his family the best as well as the family of the fallen solider who he gave the trip to. May your son-husband-father rest in peace. Thank you for you service to our country.
It is time
P.S. Natural being - you are a worthless troll, please go back under your bridge and keep you rotting smell(nutjob thoughts) to yourself.
America's son.
yea if he really did tht all by himself then cool, what a good kid, but i got a feeling his parents talked to him about it before he just went there and did it himself
You know even if his parents did talk to him about it thats one awesome kid for agreeing to it. Most 9 year olds don't really see the importance of putting others before themselves and especially in this case. I applaud the child and the parents that raised him.
Nothing can make a parent prouder than when your child feels that there is more to life than just getting things for yourself. He has learned at a young age that giving something from the heart is powerful. It won't bring back the dad but he just wants to make the family smile for a little while. I hope great things come to this awesome guy.
that is a great boy and very thoughtful.
Cudos to the parents and this young man's actions are proof that that the American Spirit Still Burns Brightly. Now if we could get the "adults" on board.
You mean like Fiesty the RedHead? You only see her posting if it has something to demean someone, somebody or a Republican. This is a great story and needs National attention so some other kids can get on board. We're slowly losing them. But with this kid, there is still hope.
Kids are wonderful and he should be commended. I wish we had more adults that are like Brendan.
How wonderful is THAT???? I would be so proud of him which I am sure his family is.
Suds in Denver,
I am proud of him as a fellow American, I am proud that he sets the example of the TRUE American Spirit and what we should ALL attain to be like, he along with the young lady from TX, Diane Tran. With young people like these I am encouraged that there is hope after all for OUR most AWESOME country.
Bill from Oregon,
I sooo agree!!! What really bums me out is that we waaay too many with attitudes and opinions like "A Natural Being" that posted this earlier: "A good boy. But, just to encourage more killers to invade other countries."
Another poster that was collapsed by the community said that the family that won the drawing should give it back to the young man. Well I have this to say to that:
It would break his heart and insult him by not excepting it, after all the work and effort he put into it for the exact purpose. That would be like spitting in his face, just plain wrong. If I were to give you a gift and you not except it, I would be be most insulted and hurt. I get the most absolute greatest joy in giving to people, I feel so exhilarated and lifted up like I'm walking on the clouds. And to give the gift back to this young MAN would be sooo very very wrong, it would be robbing him of the most wonderful feelings of giving.
I wish I had a Disney vacation so that I could donate it to that kid! What a sweet thing to do! I wish he could go as well.
If you did, please donate it to a child old enough to appreciate it and have memories of the day.
This child is plenty old enough to enjoy everything Disney has to offer and would remember it for the rest of his life! And he is especially deserving of it!
I think Jeanette is referring to the 2 year old that won... No she will not remember the trip nor will she be able to enjoy it. Rule in my family is 7 and older for Disney. We will be going again next summer since my youngest will be 7 in November.
And they should give it back! No need to take anything from a 9 year old. I would thank him so much, then give it back. It's not right.
That 9 year old acted like a man, and he should be given a man's respect when it comes to his wishes about what should be done with the trip.
Don't demean his gesture by not accepting it.
If that's how you truly feel you will never make it in life and never by happy. You don't do things from the goodness of your heart expecting something in return. In fact, a truly generous person (like this kid) doesn't even want something in return - they just want to make others happy - because that makes them happy. You obviously don't fit that mold and are a typical text-book example of what's wrong with society today.
I disagree. Not accepting the gift would of been worse. I agree with Rev. Sylv, accept the gift!
You accept the gift and invite him to go with you.
@Chris-1160644
I think you missed the entire point here. He wasn't trading up so that he could go on a trip to Disney. His goal was to give the trip away to a family f a fallen soldier. To refuse would he been an insult to all of his effort.
Read the story again, and see if your opinion stays the same. If only we had more people as altruistic as this young man in our society.
@Chris-1160644
Who the hell do you think you are? Did you lose a child in war? Mind your own business.
Chris-1160644
I have to disagree. There was an old saying "Never refuse a gift from a child". Not sure who originally said it.
It would break his heart and insult him by not excepting it, after all the work and effort he put into it for the exact purpose. That would be like spitting in his face, just plain wrong. If I were to give you a gift and you not except it, I would be be most insulted and hurt. I get the most absolute greatest joy in giving to people, I feel so exhilarated lifted up like I'm walking on the clouds. And to give the gift back to this young MAN would be sooo very very wrong, it would be robbing him of the most wonderful feelings of giving.
such a great kiddo, I hope Disney hears of this and gives him his trip also... maybe the families can go together...
I was thinking the same thing
that was a real classy act young man, not too many kids this day and age who would do that..kind and generous acts are always rewarded..we need more stories like this in the news, gives us faith in mankind
I would rather hope that this child had his faith in Yeshua Yamashiyah (Jesus Christ) than to have faith in humankind. Then again, the people that received his selfless generosity more than deserved their gift and the boy is to not only be commended, as well as the family of that fallen soldier, but that they are to be blessed beyond measure in their lives. As for the moonbat, a.k.a., the psuedo-peace activist, a.k.a., A Natural Moron, a.k.a., A Natural Being, duh, soldiers are not only MEANT to kill those people that would kill people that can not defend themselves but they are TRAINED to kill those kinds of people, too? Also, this family lost the man that loved them and, quite frankly, they NEED something that is good in their lives right now because they lost the man that chose to defend them from an enemy. This man that served this country probably didn't agree with the various nuances, goals, agendas, and plans of our government, and, quite honestly, he probably dind't even care for those things or he had ignored them, rather, he ultimately served his family and his Creator because he believed in defending both of those things in his life, so how dare you criticize this man from doing something that you lack the testicular fortitude to do in your own life, you spineless coward! I might believe that my government is corrupt but I also believe that a soldier, regardless of them being male or female, has a right to defend those that they love as well as innocent strangers. If you want peace, then you need to either pick up a gun and start shooting or, when a gun isn't available, to use another sort of weapon because people are becoming more and more savage, mentally unstable,m and demonically possessed and it's only going to get worse until Yeshua Yamahshiyah (Jesus Christ) returns to this world. Go ahead and say that He is nothing more than a fairy tale and that Yahweh (God) is an imaginary person in the sky or a sky daddy that is made by people that believe in an antiquated mythological fable that no modern person of true logic would believe in because all that proves is that you have sour graps about your own fairy tales sucking and not being as much of a best-seller as that one. In other words, if you want to compete with the best, then you need to play on a level playing field instead of using monopolization, extortion, payola, fraudulent and deceptive practices, scare tactics, and fearmongering, but then again, why should lying, deceitful, manipulative cowards play fair when they could get so much more out of being a bunch of bullies and tyrants? For people that seem to not care about Lucifer, you sure do act like him.
@ thetruthteller-3478699-I am a Christian and you are totally embarrassing me. I think something tragic must have happened to you and I am sorry, but pick up a bible.
Matthew 7
New International Version (NIV)
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
P.S you are really sending the gospel of peace with your rant...
Uh, truthteller, VH Navy didn't say that the boy has faith in humankind or that the boy doesn't believe in Jesus. He/she was saying that reading about the boy gives him/her faith in humankind.
Truthteller: Then they'll have to reprint all those bracelets that say "WWJD" to "WWYD".
Wow. And "thetruthteller" TOTALLY drags down an uplifting moment! You should keep your over-extensive, unwarranted thoughts to yourself. To have "faith" in something is more than believing in "jesus christ" or "god". It is to trust that there is still goodness left in it; that individuals like this boy can bring us back from our downward spiral of hatred, selfishness and ignorance. You, on the other hand, are an individual who enforces those things. There is more to the word "faith" than religious context. I suggest you educate yourself and not take statements to literally.
BTW... LMAO @ Jeanette
And I don't even want to get started on THIS statement by you,
"if you want to compete with the best, then you need to play on a level playing field instead of using monopolization, extortion, payola, fraudulent and deceptive practices, scare tactics, and fearmongering, but then again, why should lying, deceitful, manipulative cowards play fair when they could get so much more out of being a bunch of bullies and tyrants?"
You need to go look in the mirror and repeat this statement to the person looking back at you. The christian church, many of its leaders and believers have used these scare tactics to attempt to keep people in line for centuries. You seem to have fallen prey to these tactics yourself as your words are full of bitterness, hate, fear, judgements and ignorance. You obvisously hold preconceived notions that everyone is against you and your religion and that you have to jump in and defend yourself with anger and hate before anything is ever said. That leads one to believe you hate yourself for what you are. You are not a christian for you do not hold love in your heart. You don't know if the soldier was a christian, so do not "praise" him as such. One does not have to be a christian to serve in the U.S. military. He could have been a "god" hating Athiest, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or (dun dun dun) Muslim. Do not judge someone's religious affiliation based on their choice to serve in the military. and VH Navy (i.e. the individual your unwarranted anger is directed to) could go to church every Sunday and harbor nothing but love in his/her heart for everyone they meet.
I was totally going to comment on that same quote Steph, but I couldn't have said it better than you did!!
Good job, young man! May you always understand that the Heart is greater than the Mind.
Always follow your Heart and you will never go wrong, regardless of what other people say.
Acting well beyond his years he makes everyone of us so proud of him.
Ya can't beat that!
A nine year old that could teach millions of us, a class on what true class is. His parents should be beyond proud.
I hear ya, Scar. I guess there's still hope for humanity yet. :)
Mr. and Mrs. Haas...you have raised a wonderful child. A kid who thinks of someone other than himself...awesome.
Thank you so much for the smile and renewed faith in humanity I received from this story, truly a gift that keeps on giving as we all feel a bit better having read it. It is heartwarming to read such stories and to learn about the generosity and basic decency in others. I sure hope Disney sees their way to giving this young man a trip too! Well done young man!
This young lad has his heart and mind in the correct place. He has done something quite honorable. His parents can be quite proud.
God bless him.
This young man is my hero!
We seem to be hearing a lot about very young kids doing wonderful things like this lately. Maybe the self destructive greed gene in the human race has been toned down in this upcoming generation, and Nature has given us a chance at redemption.
What a great kid.
I'm seeing the same thing - more of our younger generation, my daughter included - showing compassion to other human beings. They're less judgmental and consider having empathy a strength, not a weakness. There is hope still.
It's not nature that is doing that, screminmimi, it's children following the Book of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which states, "If my people, who are called by my Name, will seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven, and I will bless them and I will heal their land." Clearly this child is to be a blessed one by performing such a selfless action in his life. I hope that my children pay attention to the actions of this child when I become a father one day. Also, as the Scriptures say, "When a ruler is righteous, the nation rejoices, but when a ruler is wicked, the people groan."
thetruthteller...no, it is a child following his heart or head. That is all. You do not need to associate his actions with anything else but what it is. That is good enough. I would also rather someone have true goodness in their hearts and minds and follow their instincts with that, then doing something because a book tells them to.
Do I have to put a dollar in truthteller's account when he posts?
first let me say what a thoughtful act this kid has done
And to Jeanette "Thank you for making my lmao twice this morning."
What a great kid. What a wonderful thing to do.
Disney, you'd make me a fan for life if you give this kid a new free trip as well....
Come on, Disney! Give this boy a free trip. Can't possibly cost you anything you can't make up in tons of good will and heaven knows the public could use another smile.
Now this kid is a true hero. Unlike the kid that sued so he could wear a shirt that say's something to the effect that God was not a homophobe.
DR-ass both are heros and God created the homosexuals so he cannot be a homophobe, on the other hand he created you ????? so maybe he has a sense of humor.
Or proof that nobody is truly perfect
Sorry, but the word "hero" is so over-used at this point it is meaningless. I am proud of this kid. His parents should be beaming over his actions. But it is not "heroic". Selfless? Yes. Not "heroic". The soldier who died can possibly be called a hero. This kid is just a great person, or at least committed a great act.
The kid who decided to wear a t-shirt in order to create a commotion is also not a hero. I personally believe he did it for his own satifaction and gratification. I am not saying that I necessarily believe the message to be incorrect, but do not believe the action was of a truly selfless nature. It is a shirt that can deeply offend a huge population. Again, not saying that occassionally that isn't needed. But if someone at that same school wore a shirt with a statement that homosexuality was an insult to evolution (because without breeding, evolution is not possible), would that child also be a "hero"?
The term should be used for someone whose actions are unquestionably selfless and for the greater good...in my humble opinion.
Eric60watts: Thank you! Finally someone gets it. The postman that gets burned pulling three kids out of a burning building is a hero, the child who undergoes 2 skin grafts is not.
Jeanette. We all have our own heroes. It's not for you to decide.
Grinch Walt Disney strikes again - better give a free vacation to the donor & the vet's family.
Hooray for this young man. Should he get a trip, too? Would that destroy his gesture?
This is the sort of story the news networks should report on more than just once in a great while. This is a good kid. May he continue growing and become a good man.
Chris-1160644, you could truely learn something from this great kid and his family. You could learn that a good deed needs to be recognized for what it is, not to demean it as you have with your comment. I say, as the father of someone serving with the USAF, that this boy has shown the true meaning of being a great American and his family can be very proud of him. I say to Timothy, I salute you as a true gentleman and a true patriot, and this country definitely needs more people like you.