Troops Benefit from Boy’s Birthday

By Paula Green

While most young boys have dreams of receiving birthday presents such as cars, trucks and other fun gifts, Tyler Kautzman of McCandless Township had other thoughts in mind.  On July 15th, Tyler turned eight-years old, and instead of birthday presents for himself, he asked for gifts for troops serving overseas.  Word of mouth quickly spread of Tyler’s generous act; soon the donations began to pour in from friends, family, neighbors and relatives. He even spent the day collecting items at an area Giant Eagle in a quest to add to his cause.

The response was definitely favorable; in fact 400 lbs. of items were gathered.  Donations included an array of goodies such as: cookies, candies, toiletries and 300 letters.  Once the supplies were collected, the next major task was to ship the items overseas.

“We didn’t know anyone serving overseas, so I contacted the North Hills Community Outreach, and they put me in touch with St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Allison Park.  Since the 9/11 disaster, you are not permitted to send packages overseas in care of the army.  They have to be addressed to a specific person.  St. Paul’s gave us the name of a serviceman, who is a Tarentum native and Deer Lakes High School graduate Sgt. Eddie Greiner,” said Tyler’s mother, Jennifer Kautzman.

“I realized that it would cost a fortune to ship all of this stuff overseas, so I called Senator Jane Orie’s office.  They put me in touch with the Yellow Ribbon Girls of Ellwood City.  The group is composed of three sisters Bonnie and Patti Phillippi and Vicki Henley.  They send monthly care packages to service men and women,” Kautman said.

With the help of the Yellow Ribbon Girls, Tyler’s collection was sent overseas to Eddie Greiner and the members of his troop, the 82nd Airborne Division.  In September, Sgt. Greiner was home on-leave, and he paid a visit to Tyler at his school.  All of his second grade classmates at McKnight Elementary in McCandless were in attendance at the assembly featuring Sgt. Greiner.

Sgt. Greiner expressed his gratitude to Tyler by presenting him with an Army Achievement Medal.  Additionally, Tyler has also received at least a dozen e-mails from members of the 82nd Airborne thanking him for his generosity.

Senator Jane Orie will also be honoring Tyler on Dec. 6th at her “Reach Out and Touch a Hero” event which will be held at 9:00 a.m., at the Shoppes at Northway.

Northern Connection magazine commends Tyler Kautzman for his kind and generous support of the U.S. military.

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