MILES —
When Joy Hortz, of Miles, and her son, Joey, brainstormed how to celebrate his eighth birthday, they decided to invite his entire second-grade class to Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor in Clinton for a party.
Joy was happy to oblige, but contemplated whether or not Joey would be the best recipient of the 15 potential gifts.
“I said, ‘Now just look around, do you really need a bunch of presents?’ and he said ‘no,’” Joy said.
Joey decided to choose charity instead. Rather than taking presents for himself at his party, he asked his classmates to bring toys that he can donate to Toys for Tots.
“I want to make the world more happier,” he said. “I want to help other people, other kids.”
Some of his classmates were puzzled, he said.
“They asked ‘why are you doing this? Keep the toys for yourself,’” Joey recalled. “I said, ‘well I’m going to donate them.’”
Joy, an associate teacher with Preston schools, said she tries to teach her son to give back. He’s a Cub Scout and regularly helps donate food to the local food pantry as well as aids the firefighters during pancake breakfasts and other events. It’s something he likes to do, Joy said.
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(Back row, from left) Joy, Mike, (front, from left) Joey and Johnny Portz are shown in this family photo. Photo Courtesy of Joy Portz
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MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Joey Portz
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