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August 10th, 2020 | by NEWCAHow about an unabashed feel-good story? Yep, we can all use one and it promotes the construction trades at the same time.
We have published a number of stories about the positive aspects of choosing the construction trades as a career and the increasing need for quality people to fill those openings.
Well you can sign 5-year old Dominic from De Pere up! That’s exactly what Miron Construction recently did in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Dominic’s wish? To be a construction worker.
In an exclusive interview, The Build Out spoke with Joel Stave, Miron’s project manager for that job site to discuss the event.
“Once this opportunity really started to take shape, everybody on site was so excited to be able to work with Dominic and go out of their way to try and make his day,” Stave shared. “It was really cool for everyone to see how excited he was about it, how much he enjoyed the equipment, how much he enjoyed the horns, and the digging and the concrete, just everything about it. He was really into it. So it was special for not only him, but everyone involved to really be a part of that.”
Indeed, Miron pulled out all the stops to make Dominic and his sister’s day something extra special. The day began with getting a ride to the job site—at West De Pere Intermediate—in a fire truck and escorted by police cars as well. Once there, Dominic warmed up with Miron’s crew as they did their daily stretches (part of their normal daily routine), then got to work digging holes, placing concrete and then every little boy’s dream: operating some of the big machines on the site.
The construction giant showed its heart of gold with the care and special attention given to Dominic to make this day one he would never forget. “Jessie Micke on our team really kind of took it and ran with it. She worked with the Make-A-Wish representatives and went above and beyond on all the little things,” said Stave. “She did a great job kind of doing all the little things, having cookies with his name on it; a special logo on his hard hat and the special t-shirts that all made it a unique and special day for him while still keeping it in line with trying to make it feel like he's just another guy out on the job site.”
Dominic and his sister were even able to leave their handprints in the concrete to provide a permanent memory of the day.
“Miron is just excited that we had the opportunity to help him out and to make this day possible,” Stave stated. “The care that everyone was taking when working with [Dominic] was obvious. One of the unfortunate things, with the situation that everyone is in right now, is you couldn’t see the smiles on the faces of all the guys who were helping him because they had masks on. But, I know everybody was smiling, everybody was happy to be there and everybody was thrilled to be working with him, show him around and make his day special.”
Dominic lives his daily life coping with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe neurological disease that causes seizures among other challenges. But Dominic’s energy and bright smile show that he is living his dream…literally.