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WEST VALLEY CITY -- A West Valley business owner won a KSL High 5 this week for looking beyond the business' bottom line.
Helene Byington nominated Nick Meza, owner of Aces Full Lawn Care, for the honor. Nick's company provided lawn care for Helene last year. This year, she planned to cancel because her husband, who had been deployed to Afghanistan, would be returning home.
At first she was upset when she pulled into her driveway and saw an invoice from the company hanging on her door.
"I opened it to see that the services not only were free, but that they had taken the time to write a thank you on it for my husband's service," Helene wrote in her nomination (click here to read that).
"What a relief," Helene said. "It was wonderful. I just called up Nick and I was just about in tears. I said, ‘I can't believe how generous you have been.'"
Nick said, "Helene's a really nice lady. She told me that her husband was serving overseas, so I just thought it would be proper to take care of it when she couldn't afford the services."
"He actually lost money from his company," Helene said. "And I guess the thing that really touched my heart was his little note down below, thanking my husband for his service."
Helene's husband Bruce, who has since returned home, said, "I was in Baghram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. I was pretty excited. I thought that was pretty good that people are appreciative of what we're doing."
Nick added, "For regular customers and people I've enjoyed having a relationship with over the last six or seven years, I've had a few of them say we can't afford it this year. I just tell them either let me cut the price, or I'll go ahead and do it for free, and when you can afford it, let me know."
"The small things matter the most, because it's the small things that you get an opportunity to do the most," Helene said.
As a thank you, Nick received a gift basket from our High 5 sponsors, Les Schwab.
If you know someone in your community who deserves a High 5, nominate them here.