Super volunteer makes friends, melts hearts
LOREN BENOIT/Press Aaron Findlay, 20, of Hayden, volunteers his time every Monday and Friday to set up tables for Lake City Center’s lunch service. He was born with half a heart and suffered a stroke as a baby during surgery, which confined him to a wheelchair, but despite everything he is determined to give back to his community.
By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — Aaron Findlay zips around the quiet banquet room of Lake City Center in his electric wheelchair like a man on a mission.
He stops at each table, gingerly distributing and organizing centerpieces, placemats, salt and pepper shakers and silverware so each place setting is ready for lunch guests. He has conducted this careful work two days a week for the past two years.
"He loves staying and having lunch and interacting. He asks me every Monday and Friday, the first thing out of his mouth is, ‘What are they having for lunch today?’” his mom, Lisa Findlay, said with a chuckle. "Not 'good morning,’ not ‘did you sleep OK, Mom?’ It’s, 'What are they having for lunch today?'"
Aaron, 20, doesn't say a whole lot when he first meets someone, especially when he's focused on getting those tables ready. But his big bright smile says everything — "I'm happy to be contributing."
"In this area, they have programs that people with disabilities can work, but the waiting is huge,” Lisa said. "Sometimes it’s two, three years to get any kind of job, and sometimes it’s shredding (paper). We wanted to find something that he might really enjoy and I saw that they had openings for Meals on Wheels. When I called down here, the gal who runs it, she goes, ‘You know, I have a better idea,’ so we came down and we tried it, and he loved it. He looks forward to it."
"It’s nice to get out," Aaron said shyly.
Aaron has been hit with health challenges his whole life. He was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), so only half of his heart was correctly formed.
"He’s one of the first survivors in this area with that condition," Lisa said.
He has undergone more than 15 surgeries. He had a stroke during heart surgery when he was just a baby, leaving him immobile and impairing his cognitive abilities. His medical needs have taken him to hospitals throughout the country, including Texas and Boston. He was featured in Boston Children's Hospital's blog when he was 16 and facing more health challenges when he developed scoliosis.
Despite all this, Aaron's determination and will to keep going have amazed those around him. Lisa said that on several occasions when he was sick as an infant, doctors told her he wouldn't make it through the night or that he would enter a vegetative state.
"He not only has inspired me with his ability to keep fighting, even when they tell me that it doesn’t look good, but he does inspire me with his love of people and animals," she said.
Even when he's in pain, she said, he won't miss his volunteer days at Lake City Center.
"A lot of the seniors come up and tell me later how much it means to them to have him here,” she said. "There’s one gentleman who brings him a candy bar every day.
"He just loves them. They’re so open and loving. A lot of people are scared of people with disabilities and they don’t know what to do with them, and the seniors here are so loving. Everyone, it’s not just seniors here," Lisa said. "It’s actually a lot of ages."
Aaron likes to go out on accessible trails or UTVing with his dad. He loves trains and he has two parakeets that are his buddies. He perks up when someone mentions coffee.
"I like coffee," he said. "I drink coffee every day."
And he loves to help. Center director Bob Small said it brings tears to his eyes that Aaron always puts money in the donation box every time he visits.
"I was just blown away by that," Small said. "It’s a good lesson for all of us."