- 18-year-old Cooper Marvel raised money to provide a holiday meal for a family in need in his community. He went shopping the day before Thanksgiving to get everything on their list and then some.
- Mom Katy came along to offer advice, but she let Cooper do the shopping.
- His mom thinks her son learned compassion after his dad was in a devastating car crash eight years ago: "Our lives changed in an instant. And our kids had to learn a lot about being compassionate and having empathy at a very, very young age … even on our hardest day we are blessed."
- "A lot of people have helped me out along the way, you know, with my business, and I figured I'd better help somebody else out, too," said Cooper.
- FIND COOPER'S BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE HERE: Facebook.com/coopermarvelenterprses
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Eighteen-year old Cooper Marvel is a senior at Fremont-Mills High School in Tabor, Iowa and he could be doing anything with his Thanksgiving break.
I’m Southwest Iowa reporter Katrina Markel and I met up with him in Council Bluffs where he was grocery shopping for another family.
Katy: "S"
Mom, Katy, came to advise, but this is Cooper's project.
Cooper: Oh, sweet....
Katy: There you go....
"A lot of people have helped me out along the way, you know, with my business, and I figured I'd better help somebody else out, too," said Cooper.
The Tabor teenager already knows the value of work. He's operated his own handyman business for four years now. And for the third year, he's used proceeds from that operation to help a Tabor-area family during the holidays.
"My sophomore year, so two years ago, Christmas for somebody — one of our friends — and then, last year we did Christmas for a kid,” said Cooper.
"The funny part about this is that I didn't realize that Cooper was raising money to adopt families for Thanksgiving until I saw it on Facebook," said Katy Marvel.
She thinks her son learned compassion after his dad was in a devastating car crash eight years ago.
"Our lives changed in an instant. And our kids had to learn a lot about being compassionate and having empathy at a very, very young age…even on our hardest day we are blessed," said Katy.
Cooper even recruited his mom – a former caterer - to make pumpkin bars for the family he's helping.
"She's a very good cook. I'm very thankful for that. I eat very well,"
She's also got a very good kid.
"...Being so proud and hopeful for the future and thankful for everybody along the way that has had a part in helping raise our kids," said Katy.
Next? Cooper will adopt a family for Christmas.
