Waste Pro surprises Crestview child for birthday

CRESTVIEW — Employees from Waste Pro recently surprised a 5-year-old with gifts for his birthday.

Dominic Byrd fell in love with garbage trucks after he saw a garbage truck while going with his mother to put her boyfriend’s child on the bus.

“Sometimes the truck would come around and he would watch it,” said Dominic’s mother, Jessica Castleberry. “When I started asking him what he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted a garbage truck.”

Marcy Jo Smith, a friend of Castleberry’s, also asked Dominic what he wanted for his birthday. Dominic’s answer remained the same: a garbage truck. After hearing his answer, Smith came up with an idea.

“I had heard awhile back about someone in some other state that had made a call to their garbage company and they had visited a little boy,” Smith said. “I thought maybe we could have that done here.”

Smith then called Waste Pro and asked if they could have a garbage truck driver stop by to see Dominic and give him a birthday card.

According to Smith, the office manager that she spoke with went beyond the simple request.

“When she called me and we set up a time, she said they had made him an awesome goodie-bag,” Smith said.

On Friday, Dominic received the surprise. One of the drivers from Waste Pro, an assistant and the office manager who’d helped arrange the surprise, stopped by to talk with Dominic and show him the truck.

They also gave him a bag full of items including a vest like the trash collectors wear, a toy dumpster and a squishy garbage truck toy.

“He was beyond words excited,” Castleberry said. “It made his day.”

According to Castleberry, Dominic jumped up and down during the surprise and made sure to hug all three of the Waste Pro employees before they left.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Waste Pro surprises Crestview child for birthday