Senior Airman Jaylen Spotts has been stationed in Italy for the last three years, since before the pandemic began. The US Air Force member asked his mom, who lives in Ohio, what she wanted for Christmas this year and quickly got to work to make it happen.
"I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and seeing me was one of the things she asked," Spotts told WSYX.
"So, I got on Google and found Operation H.O.M.E."
Operation H.O.M.E. is a nonprofit organization with a mission of bringing active duty military members home for special occasions.
"We raise money to purchase travel tickets for military members who can't afford to get home for Christmas," Byron Davis, cofounder of the organization, told Good Morning America.
"We purchase a ticket and it's waiting for them at the airport if they choose to travel home."
When Davis received Spotts’ request for assistance, he called him up with a plan. A donor of the organization, 84 Lumber, had a location based near Spotts’ hometown in Ohio.
Davis proposed getting the company to assist in sending a “special delivery” to the airman’s family just before Christmas.
"I called Jaylen … I said, '84 Lumber has two locations in Columbus, Ohio and they've made a donation to our organization. I'm going to see if they would be willing to assist us in using their truck as a distraction to bring you home,'" Davis told GMA, adding that Spotts immediately agreed to the plan.
"And he and I talked a little bit," Davis recalled to the outlet. "I said, 'All you need to do is let your parents know that you're sending a Christmas gift to their house. And I'll take care of everything else.'"
84 Lumber stepped up to the plate when asked if it could assist in the plan on top of its generous donation to the organization.
"In addition to 84 Lumber’s $15,000 donation to Operation H.O.M.E., our Pataskala, Ohio, location provided the materials to build the crate to carry out and deliver the soldier to his parents' doorstep,” a representative of the company told GMA.
The nonprofit worked in tandem with the lumber company to make the family's Christmas dreams come true. After they delivered an oversized crate to his parents' home, Spotts jumped inside the crate to wait for his parents to open it.
He told the reporters he was "excited and nervous" to be pulling off the surprise.
The moment, all caught of video, is heartwarming and priceless. Mom Stacey Spotts screamed as soon as she spotted her son in the box. They wasted no time hugging each other.
"I am so happy," Stacey Spotts told WSYX with tears in her eyes. "I just can't believe my baby is home."
