CALDWELL, Idaho — Tanner Sypert lives in Caldwell, Idaho. When the snow arrived, he was worried about his neighbors shoveling all that snow.
"In today's day and age, it's kind of weird to care for your neighbors in the way that I do, at least some people see it that way," Sypert said. "But I think weird is good, and I think we are our brother's keepers. If you see your neighbor might need a hand, just help, we are all in this together."
Sypert put the word out on Facebook, offering to shovel snow for anyone who needed a little extra hand.
"It's a community page called Caldwell Community and Crime," he said. "I just found myself a part of that page, and I decided to make an announcement there, and three or four hundred people saw it and I was surprised. I wound up doing 10 or 12 houses the first day or so, and I was out for a span of 8 or 9 hours just shoveling stuff out."
KTVB caught up with him out shoveling snow all over the city. He was on foot because he doesn't own a car.
"I'm out here today shoveling up people's driveways, folks with disabilities, old people, really anyone that needs help," Sypert said. "I see a lot of people get injured slipping and falling on the ice and I figured I could just do something about that with my time off from work. It's just a it takes a village kind of mentality. I think my folks really instilled that in me. My grandpa, my dad and my mom and my grandma, yeah. So, when I come out here, I don't ask questions, I don't ask why. I just grab my shovel and I do it. This is just a volunteer project, I don't charge money, I don't ask for tips, although Caldwell seems to be a rather insistent lot. Some people try to hand me cash, or they give me hot chocolate. I like hot chocolate! But I don't take the money."
Sypert spurred some other people in that Facebook community to help too.
"There was a man named David, he volunteered in his off time. He was just in the comments and a lady needed help, and he said hey that's near my house I'll go do it," Sypert said. "Then, we had one lady named Bree, who volunteered to help us on her lunch break, she came out and spent an hour with us."
There is no shortage of people in Caldwell who need a guy like Sypert. Everyone who he has helped has been so appreciative.
"You know I've honestly lost count of how many I've helped," he said. "I know I can't get to everybody, and that's why I'm not keeping count, I'm just helping as many as I can."
He said it just makes him feel better about his Caldwell community, and about the world.
"There's a lot of chaos going on in the world, and it makes me feel like I'm doing something about it. It helps me feel better, I take pride in my community, and it helps me feel like I'm making a difference," Sypert said. "I like making people smile."
Sypert said he hopes to get more volunteers to help him out. If you would like to join his Shovel Up Caldwell effort, you can search for him on Facebook, and send him a message.
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