Community gives back to honor Waukon man killed in motorcycle accident

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - People in Waukon are honoring one of their own by collecting can tabs. It’s something Matthew Sweeney did to help others. Sweeney was killed in a motorcycle crash less than 2 weeks ago. He was 41 years old.

You can’t walk into Village Farm and Home in Waukon without being greeted by a member of the Sweeney family. It’s a business Matt Sweeney co-owned with his brother and father, part of the third generation of ownership.

”It’s nice being with each other every day, maybe it’s one of the harder parts now is he should be here with you every day,” said Steven Sweeney, Matt’s brother.

Matt was known for helping others and one of the ways he did that was by collecting can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.

”They take the tabs in and try to get as much as possible so that it can offset the cost for the families that are staying there,” explained April McQuade of Waukon. She helped organize the tab collection in Matt’s memory.

”Matt was always very generous trying to help anybody that was needy and the Ronald McDonald House was a big part of his life,” said Joe Sweeney, Matt’s father.

That’s why community members have been flooding into the family business to donate can tabs.

”When I got here he was showing me how many bags had been brought in and I’m just in awe,” said McQuade.

Matt’s family misses him dearly.

”You know his nephews just loved working with him and he was kind of a great role model for them too,” Steven explained.

But the family says seeing the generosity pour in, is in some way helping to ease the pain.

”We just can’t say enough, of what it means to us to help us get through this sad time here,” Joe said.

They’ll continue the collection going forward to give back to others the way Matt loved to do.

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