For His Birthday, 9-Year-Old Gives Generous Gift

On Logan Brennan’s ninth birthday, there was no frantically tearing the paper off piles of presents. Instead, there was a shy smile, weeks later, and a huge payoff.

“Some people need food more than I need toys,” Logan explained Wednesday afternoon as he and his mother, Lindsay Andersen, dropped off more than 100 pounds of food to the Farmington Food Pantry.

Logan, a third-grader at Union School, came up with the idea of asking for donations for the food pantry in lieu of presents by himself, Andersen said.

The family invited 12 friends to the Glow Cove in Canton for Logan’s party and received an overwhelming response. At the food pantry, volunteer Cristina Ramsay lifted bags bursting with food onto the scale.

“This is wonderful! Mac and cheese, peanut butter, pop tarts — this is fantastic,” Ramsay said.

She took Logan on a tour of the pantry to show him where his donations would be going. She explained that the food helps 185 families who shop at the pantry on a regular basis.

When Andersen initially called to find out whom to make checks out to, Ramsay was floored.

“It’s very unique for a child this young,” she said. “I told my coworkers ‘I have to leave work early to meet this kid. He’s so awesome.’ And they said, ‘what is he in high school?’ No, he’s nine!”

Logan, who loves math, watched eagerly as one bag, then another was weighed. When they reached the end, he grabbed a pad and pencil and started adding. The donations totaled 108.8 pounds.

“I’m very proud of him,” Andersen said. Generosity and compassion are just part of her son’s nature.

“Every time we pass a needy person, he says, ‘Mommy, can’t you just give me $20?’”

Sometimes she indulges him.

“We were in Torrington and we saw a man sitting on a bench next to a Burger King and I thought, this is perfect. We went up and asked him ‘are you hungry?’” Andersen recalled. “Logan asked him, ‘what would you like, a hamburger or chicken?’ And he said ‘I’ll take whatever you get me.’”

Ramsay beamed. “That’s truly extraordinary. If he has that now, he’ll continue to carry it with him.”