VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dominic Hodder, 5, from Van Buren Township spent every Friday morning over the summer waiting for the garbage truck.
And then school got in the way.
His mom Nicole Hodder told us: "He was really bummed because every Friday morning he gets up and he waits for the garbage truck whether he watches in the window or on the front porch."
Dominic even asked his mom to record the truck for him, but he didn't need to worry too much, because it turns out the driver of his favorite truck noticed him every summer Friday morning, too.
"The whole summer I see him running out, he’ll usually be in the window," said Waste Management truck driver Tyrell Stanley.
Stanley said when he didn't see his friend peaking out one morning, he did the math and realized school must have started.
"I came back around 5 o'clock, I knew he was out of school by then," said Stanley. "Then when I was pulling up the street, I see him running out!"
"Later that day my husband and I were in the living room and we had seen a garbage truck come down the street and I was like, ‘Oh we gotta get Dom, he’s gonna be so excited to see the garbage truck!’ And as we were walking outside, the gentleman was walking up our driveway with a gift for Dominic," said Hodder.
The gift? Dominic's own Waste Management vest.
"He’d already done the route for the day, he came after 5 o'clock just to do this for Dominic," said Hodder. "It just warmed our hearts that he went the extra mile."
The Friday morning that we did the interviews, Dominic watched Tyrell in wonderment as he got to learn all about how his favorite truck and job works.
It was a day this young boy will likely remember for a lifetime, all because this man went the extra mile.
"Thank you!" said Dominic.
