Thanks man, a good motto that I've tried to adopt as best I can is "be the change that you want to see" and try to live by that as best I can. It's never easy but nothing in life is, which is fine!
The guy was really appreciative of it and that's all I could have hoped for, and the chance for my son to see what doing a nice deed for someone else can do. We've not really spoken to this neighbor but I think that we will certainly have some conversations as time goes on!