The Good Samaritan who dropped by Isabelle Honing’s South Surrey home last week wants to remain anonymous.
But seven-year-old Isabelle knows at least one thing about the man who brought her family a new trampoline June 1.
“I got his heart,” the youngster said, putting her hand to her chest.
The sentiment referred to how news the family’s own trampoline had been stolen and destroyed had touched the man’s heart and inspired him to do what he could to right a wrong.
He arrived at the Honings’ door shortly after learning of their plight through a Peace Arch News article that day. The story detailed how the trampoline had been lifted from the Honings’ backyard the week before, and found crumpled in the field of nearby Jessie Lee Elementary.
The theft was a huge loss for the Honings.
They bought the trampoline a year ago, in large part as physical therapy for Isabelle, who has Down syndrome. Brother Spencer, 14, pitched in for half the cost from money he’d earned on his paper route, and the siblings, along with older brother Makenzy, 16, had played on the trampoline practically every day since.
The day she discovered the crime, mom Lynda Honing described the theft and destruction as “so disturbing.”
This week, while still upset that someone could do such a thing, Honing said she and her family are heartened by the outpouring of support they’ve received since the news got out.
“It’s been very emotional. I had no idea that this would happen,” Honing said of telephone and email offers to replace the trampoline.
One woman even came by with a $100 cheque for Spencer.
“She said she knows what it’s like to do a paper route… how hard he must have worked to save that money,” Honing recalled. “It’s unbelievable.
“It all turned out to be quite magical.”
Spencer and Makenzy said they, too, are feeling better in the wake of the community’s generosity.
“A lot better, that people who read the paper came up with love and, just bless their hearts, donated a trampoline and donated me $100,” Spencer said. “Very nice people.”
Honing said she told the man who dropped off the trampoline about happier stories that she has been part of in PAN. In particular, she spoke of one that described a fundraiser she was involved in that raised $15,000 for an orphanage in Peru.
“He goes, ‘see, I’m paying it forward because you’re already paying it forward’,” Honing said.
“What comes around goes around.”