Lucas Hastings, a second grader at Ridgebury Elementary School, with Tony Phillips, director of Social Services, at the food pantry inside town hall: Lucas turned seven in July and asked friends to give him non-perishable food items for his birthday instead of gifts. —Michelle Frosch
Lucas Hastings’ birthday party had everything a traditional summer celebration should have —cake, cupcakes, cookies, and a pool.
However, it was missing one essential items — gifts.
Lucas, who turned 7 on July 22, asked his friends not to bring him any toys or cards; rather, he requested they bring non-perishable, canned foods.
“My friends didn’t ask me about why I didn’t want gifts,” he explains. “They just showed up with lots of food.”
The party was Sunday, July 28, and about 15 friends showed up with their parents. Two days later, Lucas took several bags of groceries to town hall’s food pantry with his grandparents.
“I didn’t care about not getting gifts,” Lucas says. “I had gotten what I wanted from my parents.”
The idea to ask for canned food came to him about six months ago when he was watching a show on the Disney Channel. A commercial came on featuring a man who was asking for canned foods as part of a food drive.
“When I saw the guy on TV, I knew what I wanted to do for my birthday,” he admits.
Charity and sacrifice runs in his family — both sets of his grandparents are volunteers at Danbury Hospital and one of his grandmothers volunteered at the Red Cross.
In addition, his oldest brother, Max, just graduated from the Army’s infantry in April and has been in training camp in Kansas this summer.
“He was shooting rifles, but he’s the smartest guy they have so now he’s working with radios and stuff,” he explains.
The donation to the food pantry wasn’t the first time Lucas gave back to the community.
His mother, Michelle Frosch, says he has helped Ann’s Place in Danbury during several fund-raising events, including the Run from the Sun 5K Thursday, Aug. 15.
In addition to giving runners water and selling raffle tickets from Ann’s Place, he’s been involved with the Kids Care Club at Ridgebury Elementary School, where he has wrapped gifts around the holidays for people who wouldn’t have them otherwise.
When asked what it felt like to give back to community members who need help, his response is humble.
“It feels a little bit better,” he said.
Does he think his friends will try to copy his generosity?
“They haven’t told me — we haven’t been in school because it’s the summer,” he said during an interview before school started.
Lucas didn’t walk away from his birthday completely empty handed. He says the best gift he received was a Razor scooter from his parents.
While the scooter is his favorite gift from this birthday, Lucas remembers the exact date he received his most cherished prize in all the world — an eight-month old German shepherd named Levi.
“Feb. 8 — it was a Thursday,” he says, displaying remarkable memory. “My parents got him from a kennel in Tennessee. He was the pick of the litter — he’s still growing, he’s going to be super big one day.”
Levi was a belated Christmas present, which meant Lucas had to be patient during the holiday season, waiting two months after the tree and the ornaments had came down to wrap his arms around his new friend.
“I asked for a puppy for Christmas and my parents told me they had already got me one but that it wouldn’t be here in time,” he explains with precise detail.
With a dog and a scooter, what else could a seven-year-old possibly want?
“I know something he really wants,” Michelle says from the kitchen. “It starts with an ‘I.’”
“An iPhone!” he exclaims, jumping out of his chair.
“He can start planning out his volunteer work on it,” she jokes.
The summer has had many highlights, in addition to his birthday party.
He traveled with his dad, Tim Hastings, to Kansas to see Max as part of a cross-country road trip that enabled him to see eight new states.
And that was only the beginning of his adventures.
He also traveled to New Hampshire to move in his other brother, Sam, into his freshman year dorm at Keene State.
“I don’t have anyone left — I’m all alone,” he said. “It’s going to be my first year without them.”
While he will miss his brothers a lot this fall, Lucas will have plenty to keep him busy.
In his down time, he enjoys walking Levi and playing billiards on his family’s pool table in the basement.
As for sports, he plays baseball in the spring and flag football in fall.
At Ridgebury, his favorite subject is gym.
“Gym isn’t a subject,” Michelle corrects his initial answer.
“Fine — lunch and recess,” he says.
This isn’t an acceptable answer either. Finally, he settles on math, but only for a moment and then it’s back to gym class, where he likes to play kick ball.
After a summer packed full with traveling around the country and playing at the Boys and Girls Club summer camp, he is excited to return to school because he can see his friends more regularly.
“I’m looking forward to going back — kind of,” he hesitates to weigh the pluses and minuses of returning to the classroom.
“I don’t have free time when I’m in school because of all the homework,” he says. “I wish homework would get easier and easier, but it only gets harder and harder.”