A bumper crop year for potatoes in seven-year-old Logan Pandolfi’s backyard has resulted in dozens of toys for kids at Brandon’s hospital. With the help of his dad, Ryan Pandolfi, Logan started his own business last year – growing potatoes and selling them in one-pound bags for $3.50 each. The venture – “Welcome to Logan’s Potatoes” – was a hit, with 80 pounds being sold from their driveway over three days. A portion of the money raised was donated to two local animal shelters. This year, Logan was ready to up the ante and selected buying toys for kids at Brandon General Hospital for where he wanted a portion of the proceeds to go. The growing and sale season has now come to an end. Logan harvested and sold 182 pounds of potatoes. He said around 40 per cent of what he earned went into buying toys, which he and his dad delivered to the hospital on Tuesday. “I can’t say enough how proud I am of Logan,” said Ryan. “We have a lot of discussions about the impact this would have on people and we understand that this donation wasn’t going to change the world, we’re not going to send these kids to Disneyland or anything like that. But at the end of the day, like we talked about, when kids come into the hospital, they’re going to leave just a little bit happier now and that’s because of Logan’s hard work.” In total, Logan and Ryan bought 82 different toys and games to help make kids’ days a little easier while they stay at the hospital. “It felt really good at the end,” said Logan. While Ryan is immensely proud of the kindness his son is showing the community through his potato business, he is also appreciative of everyone who helped out and made this as successful as it has been. “I really feel that we brought the community together,” said Ryan. “This was more than just selling some potatoes and seeing what could happen. This was a community all buying in. We literally, the first day we sent to sell potatoes, we went 90 minutes early to set up and we actually had people coming 90 minutes early to meet him there. “There was always somebody waiting in the parking lot to support him. And as a father, I can’t say thank you enough.” On the last day of sales, Logan even got some special visitors. Hockey players from the Brandon Wheat Kings came to hang out with him and eventually bought his last six bags that he had for sale. “They can just go buy from the grocery store, but instead, they just go buy it off me,” said Logan. As for what’s next, Ryan and Logan are ready to be back next year growing potatoes. They plan on making some improvements to the garden as Logan is wanting to grow even more. The pair also needs to figure out where Logan wants to donate some of his proceeds to. “Thank you to the City of Brandon, thank you to the community and we will come back for year number three as long as people keep supporting this kid, I will keep being there to help him out and helping him expand this, that’s for sure.”
