Windermere High student shows generous spirit during holidays

Who knew a $20 check could mean so much?

Horizon West resident Tanja Schreivogel is thankful for the kindness of one Windermere High School student — 17-year-old Nate Copeland, who helped Schreivogel in her hour of need and followed up with a spirit of gratefulness.

Schreivogel arrived at the Walmart in Hamlin the evening of Dec. 6 hoping to quickly pick up some groceries and head back home — her daughter’s 7th birthday party was set for the following day, and Schreivogel had plenty of cooking to do.

But when Schreivogel arrived at Walmart, she found several items were missing from her order when Copeland delivered the groceries. 

“I said, ‘Geez, Nathaniel, I’m in a bit of a pickle, because it’s her party tomorrow,’” Schreivogel said. “He said, ‘Don’t worry.’”

Copeland rushed back into the store and helped gather the missing items to help send Schreivogel on her way.

Having used Walmart Grocery Pickup a handful of times, Schreivogel knew employees weren’t allowed to take tips. 

“I knew I couldn’t give him three bucks to say, ‘thanks,’ but I thought, ‘You know what, I think I can get around this,’ because of the effort he made, so I wrote him a check.”

After talking with Copeland, Schreivogel learned the Windermere High student played football and they had a short conversation about sports and how her son plays baseball. 

Schreivogel decided to write a check for $20 as a donation to his football pursuits, whether it be for cleats, pants or other equipment.

At the time, Schreivogel had about $120 in bank account, but what she didn’t realize was that a birthday gift purchase for her daughter hadn’t come out of the account yet.

“I wasn’t writing him a check thinking there was nothing (in my account), and it just so happened about three or four days later my account went into the negative, because it had withdrawn that amount,” Schreivogel said. “That same day — the exact same day my account went into the negative — I find a letter from him in my post box having returned the check and a letter. … We’re talking about a 16- or 17-year-old kid (who) made the effort not only to hand write me a letter, but to return my check telling me he was grateful for me to be on Earth and grateful that I was so nice to him.”

Schreivogel, who recently became a single mother, admitted the $20 check was reaching far considering her situation. The timing of Copeland giving that $20 back was incredible, considering the check would have bounced had he tried to deposit it, Schreivogel said. 

“After I read (the letter), I just cried for like hours,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it that a teenager would take that much time out of their day to say something so nice to me — a complete stranger — and just return the money saying, ‘I’m good.’ … He truly, to me, seemed to just have this honorable, humble heart, which is so rare.”

Copeland said he just wanted to help and spread positivity.

“I don’t need to get paid for helping people — that’s just the right thing to do,” Copeland said. “The next day, I brought it back to her house, because it had the address on the check. I brought it back to her house, and I wrote her a note because she was just so nice to me. She was really awesome. … We had a little talk before, and we talked about football. She told me about her two (children) and how one of them played baseball, so I wrote on the note that instead of giving that check to me, I would rather have her use that check for one of her (children) or someone else who would need it more than I would.”

Schreivogel said she hopes her own 11-year-old son grows up to have the same character as Copeland.

“Nathaniel is just such an honest and humble person to have gone out of his way for a complete stranger that he doesn’t know, when he could have just cashed in $20,” Schreivogel said. “It’s unwritten — nobody would have known about it, that he did this really kind deed. It’s the most considerate thing that a teenager can do — to be grateful.”