LAYTON -- Anna Henzi spends much of her time helping others. Even on Thursday, when she was supposed to be watching furniture movers bring into her home a new living room set that she won as a result of her kindness, Henzi was right there assisting them.
She held the door open as the movers removed the legs on the sofa that would not fit through the entryway. Even though it was snowing, she stood there in the cold with a smile on her face.
Helping others just comes naturally.
"I always find projects that I'm working on all the time," Henzi said.
Now she'll have a new living room set to enjoy if she ever gets some free time.
For six weeks in Utah, Aaron's stores under the Spencer Smith franchise held a Facebook-based nomination program called Giving Back. Even though the stores were located in eight Utah cities, the program was open to all Utah residents.
The giveaway was designed to recognize a family in need or one that friends and relatives felt was deserving of a new living room set.
"With (her daughter) Brittni writing in that nice testimonial of why Anna was deserving for this, it's really great to give back to our communities," said John McCain, general manager of the Aaron's in Layton. "For someone as deserving as Anna, it just makes us really happy to do that."
Henzi's daughter, Brittni Gibson, nominated her mother for the award and was there when the living room set arrived.
"She just does so much for everyone in this neighborhood and works at Creekside Elementary School just up the road," Gibson said. "The jobs she does at the school are time-consuming and a lot of the time she puts in extra hours without even being paid. I just think that everything she does is so great."
In her nomination letter, Gibson mentioned that with her busy schedule, Henzi visits her widowed mother in Kaysville three times a day to help her eat and take her medicine.
Since Henzi is always helping neighbors and putting others before herself, Gibson wanted to see her mother be rewarded.
"I'm thrilled that she nominated me and thinks I'm a great person," Henzi said.
The living room set, consisting of a sofa, loveseat, two end tables, a cocktail table and two lamps fit nicely into the front room. Henzi said her husband, Mark, was in for a surprise when he got home later that day.
The three youngest of Henzi's five kids -- Valerie, 18, Seth, 19, and Tyson, 21 -- still live at home and will benefit from the new furniture.
"I plan on sitting on it when I come to visit," Gibson said.
Gibson said she was surprised when she found out that her mother was one of the finalists, and even more surprised when she found out her mother had won.
McCain said that there were more than 100 entries, and narrowing the field down was difficult.
"It was a tough decision because there were many out there who were deserving," McCain said.
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