Huge crowd at boy's birthday after bullies said they wouldn't show
A young boy in Washington state got the surprise of a lifetime when nearly 100 people showed up to his birthday party on Sunday where he expected a guest count of zero.
The 12-year-old boy had recently moved to a new school and when he invited classmates to his birthday party, they said they were not coming.
His mother wrote about the incident on Facebook, catching the eye of her friend Mike Ellis.
The pair met at World Homeless Day two years ago, where the boy’s mum told him about how she escaped domestic violence and took to the streets and shelters with her two boys.
Mr Ellis asked his Facebook friends to attend the birthday party for the little boy.
“I just put a Facebook post that told the brief story about the boy and then [asked] how many of my Facebook friends would show up for a party?”
A month later, the boy was driven to a local restaurant on a party bus to find that it was filled with people who wanted to celebrate with him.
“The majority of the people there had never met the mum, had never met the boy, had never seen them or knew who they were until [Sunday],” Mr Ellis said.
“And they were just touched by the story.”
Locals volunteered their services and donated what they could, including venue, a homemade Harry Potter cake and brand-new Nike sneakers. Some even sent cards and gifts from interstate.
Mr Ellis told Yahoo Lifestyle that the family of three has been doing well and even moved into an apartment thanks to the support of local charities.
While the mother cried tears of joy a few times during the day, Mr Ellis was also moved to tears by seeing the family’s reaction to the community’s generosity.
“I really believe that yesterday changed the lives of the mom and those two boys,” she said.
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