Boy trades toys to help families of fallen soldiers

KINGSTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- A Kingston boy is using his toys to help the families of fallen troops.

“I think that most 9-year-olds would do stuff for themselves,” said

But, not Brendan Haas. He wants to give the family of a fallen soldier a vacation to Disney, and he’s determined to do it one trade-up at a time, online.

It all started with one of his toy soldiers.

“If we were helping out a soldier, I figured that we should do something along the lines of…an army guy,” Haas said.

“He said he really wanted to do it, so I said, ‘Well, we’ll give it a shot and see what happens,’” said Brendan’s mother.

Brendan’s mother, Melissa, set up a Facebook page.

“And then I asked him I said, ‘It’s asking for a title to your page, what do you want to call it?’ and he said, ‘Mom! A soldier for a soldier, ‘cause that’s what I’m doing,’ and then I just lost it ‘cause it was just so sweet,” Melissa Haas said.

“It just kind of came to me,” Brendan Haas said.

Over the past week, he’s traded the toy soldier for a gift card, then, a Nascar Turbostockers Speedway.

“Somebody traded that for a night away at the Essex Resort and Spa in Vermont, and then tonight at 5:30 we got a phone call saying someone was trading for Red Sox tickets,” Melissa Haas said.

Brendan’s family says they’re confident he’ll make his goal.

“I think he will. He’s very determined,” Melissa Haas said.

“I’m so proud of him,” said Eric Haas, Brendan’s father. “I mean, the fact that he decided to make - to do this page and follow through. Just the overwhelming response is incredible.”

“You’re helping out somebody and it kind of feels good to help someone out,” said Brendan Haas.

If Brendan is successful, he says he will choose his military family from a raffle.

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