Marcus Tamba enjoys delivering newspapers.
He likes the time he gets to spend with his father, Bogdan Tamba, who pulls the wagon as he runs the papers from house to house.
The 12-year-old also enjoys the exercise he gets.
“It helps because I do competitive sports. The exercise definitely helps with my cardio,” he said, adding that on top of it all he gets paid.
“I really enjoy helping my community,” he said.
And his hard work does not go unnoticed. Recently he received a special present from one of his customers – a hand made T-shirt that read, “I’m not a newspaper carrier, I’m a media distribution officer”.
The reader, Bobbi Browne, told him that she was very thankful for his service.
“She really appreciated that every time a newspaper came it wasn’t thrown or like it was scattered everywhere. It was nice and neat on top of her table on her porch,” said Marcus.
“I thanked her a lot because it was very nice,” he said about her gift.
Marcus and his family are out there all the time with their wagon, said Browne.
“Rain or shine,” she said, adding that Marcus will leave the paper on her porch and put something on top of it so it doesn’t blow away.
“He’s very thoughtful when he does his job,” noted Browne.
Browne said when she gave the shirt to Marcus he just threw it on over the shirt he was wearing and exclaimed, “It fits!”.
“It just did me in, it did my heart in,” said Browne.
Marcus, started his paper route along Tamarack Lane in October of 2020.
He delivers newspapers to all of the homes on Tamarack Lane starting at the bottom of the hill.
“I do about 90 houses,” he explained.
With the money from the route Marcus has been able to purchase his first gaming consul, a PlayStation – and also a puppy, Reaya, a border collie/Austrailian shepherd mix, that is now one-year-old.
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That year when Marcus was saving for Reaya, Marcus received donations from readers for his puppy fund.
Another time a reader gave Marcus a cold beer for his father so his father could sit down and relax when they route was finished.
Last Christmas he received around 15 cards.
“I feel like the people in this neighbourhood are very kind,” he said.
His mother, Olguta Tamba, couldn’t be prouder of her son.
The Romania native said when she arrived in Canada with her husband 15 years ago, they had only two suitcases each and had to sleep on the floor. So, she said, they know that feeling that a person gets when they are able to get something that they really want by working for it themselves.
“You can’t a price tag on that,” she said.
Marcus, who is an honour roll student at school with a goal of becoming an engineer one day, credits his mother for his value of money.
Last year he bought himself a mountain bike with the money from the route.
“Now I am saving up to buy myself – also spending a little on the way but – saving up to reach the ultimate goal of when I’m 16, to be able to buy a car,” he said.
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