City Worker Brings Joy to Child’s Life in a Simple Way
Rodney Dye, a City of Kingsport Public Works employee for over 17 years, has gone above and beyond his job title to inspire and form a bond with a local child.
Dye was first introduced to the little boy, Creed, by attending church with Creed’s grandmother. “She would always ask for prayer requests for him when he was first born, because he was really sick and had a lot of heart issues. So we always prayed for him.” Dye, being part of the city’s waste management team, eventually became in charge of their garbage pick-up, where the boy would always be outside smiling and waving at him during his weekly route.
Creed’s grandmother eventually got in touch with Dye, expressing to him how much his simple smiles and waves meant to the young child. “After knowing his story and all the problems that he had in life, it just touched me, knowing that something that simple was bringing joy to his life,” said Dye about the experience.
After speaking to Creed’s grandmother, Rodney Dye decided to invite him to the City of Kingsport’s Public Works day, a yearly event that helps showcase the City’s Public Works Department and its involvement in the community. When Creed and his family arrived at public works day, Dye showed the boy the garbage truck up-close, helped him inside it, and even let him play with some of the controls.
After seeing the child’s amazement at Public Works Day, Dye decided he wanted to do another small act of kindness for Creed. Calling in a favor, Dye obtained some toy trucks that resembled the garbage trucks driven by him and other city employees.
Dye gave the trucks to the boy, knowing how much they would mean to him.
According to Dye, he and his wife now visit Creed at his grandmother’s house, where Dye and Creed play with the toy trucks together. “He laughs, smiles, and enjoys the fun and the attention. It really is a blessing to see how far he’s come. He’s a sweet child, and it’s good to see him smile after all he’s been through.”
Rodney Dye is a city employee that truly cares for the people within his community. Dye is one of several city employees that collect trash from the 50,851 citizens, 20,765 households, of Kingsport every week. His job is to collect waste from those on his route, but he decided to do so much more.
Dye, the second Kingsport employee to be highlighted in the Highlighting Heroes: People Behind the Service campaign, shares his story of how our city employees don’t just come to work to do their job – they go above and beyond the call of duty and have proven that there is more to city employees than meets the eye. These hometown heroes are what make Kingsport such a one of a kind place.
