WASHOUGAL — If there’s one word Patrick Chiotti would use to describe 11-year-old Matthew McDonnell, it’s selfless.
Matthew, a Jemtegaard Middle School sixth-grader, sat on the floor of his family’s living room in Washougal on Friday while Chiotti, 26, praised him. When Matthew said he “guesses” he is selfless, Chiotti cut him off. “No, you are,” he told Matthew. “You definitely are.”
The two formed a bond about a year ago, shortly after Chiotti’s stepdaughter, Summer Worthington, now 3, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia the day after Thanksgiving. Matthew’s mother, Jennifer McDonnell, worked with Summer’s grandmother at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center. McDonnell told Matthew about Summer and her family, and Matthew wanted to help.
The McDonnells live on a Washougal street known for having a lot of holiday decorations, so Matthew decided to open a hot chocolate stand one night when he thought there would be plenty of traffic on the street. He made about $400 and donated it to Summer and her family.
“What he did speaks so much about his character,” said Chiotti of Camas. “To want to help out and then to go do so at such a young age, he’s clearly not a selfish person at all.”
Matthew opened a hot chocolate stand again earlier this month for one night, this time bringing in more than $700. He used it to buy gifts for a mother and her two kids, ages 11 and 7, who lost their father in November to cancer. Matthew originally planned to donate money from the hot chocolate stand to cancer research, but when he heard about the two kids having Christmas without their father, he said he knew he wanted to help them out.
“There are lots of kids who are sick or don’t have a lot of stuff,” he said. “I’m just trying to make their lives a little better.”
Matthew’s mother and her co-workers got to know the whole family during the father’s monthslong treatment at Legacy. She connected with the mother to get a shopping list, so Matthew knew what to get. McDonnell said her son was meticulous in trying to equally distribute the spending on all three family members. Items included toys and pajamas.
One family was happy to donate to the cause: Summer, Chiotti and Summer’s mother, Alexis Rhodes, 25. The family was unable to stop by the hot chocolate stand the year before, as Summer was in the hospital. Rhodes said that as soon as they saw Matthew was doing it again, they knew they had to be there.
“It was important for us to be there with Summer,” Chiotti said. “We’re lucky to have her. We wanted to inspire other families to push themselves to do what Matthew and his family are doing.”
Rhodes said Matthew’s money helped; she had to quit her job as a personal trainer after Summer’s diagnosis. She’s now in school to get EMT certification as the first step toward becoming a firefighter. Chiotti works in accounting for Franz Bakery.
Summer is now in remission and started preschool in October. She was born with a form of cerebral palsy, and doctors told Rhodes that Summer wouldn’t ever talk or walk. She’s started saying words and walking with some assistance, however.
“People have been telling her ‘no,’ ” Chiotti said. “They told us she wouldn’t survive her treatment. It doesn’t matter what anyone says she can’t do. She’ll do it.”
Summer is a bubbly toddler who constantly smiles and wants to be held by her parents. When someone around her laughs, she mimics their laugh as if she just heard the funniest joke in the world. She can be shy around strangers, but when Summer’s parents brought her to the hot chocolate stand a few weeks back, they saw her immediately connect with Matthew — she reached out to him. It was their first time meeting.
“It was very special to me,” Matthew said. “The thought of her being here warms my heart.”
“You mean more to her than you’ll ever know,” Chiotti told Matthew.
While at Matthew’s house, Chiotti told him they’ll keep coming to his hot chocolate stand for as long as he does it. Matthew said he has no intention of stopping.
Ultimately, he’d like to pursue a career in cancer research to try to find a cure, or become a paleontologist because he loves dinosaurs.
“There are people out there like Matthew and his family who care,” Chiotti said. “It gives us hope. We need more Matthews out there.”
