A Facebook message about mowing lawns for money to buy school supplies has resulted in a flood of donations for 10-year-old Tyran Bell.
“I am a ten year old boy looking for yard work trying to raise money to buy my own schools supplies,” is the messages the North Carolina boy posted to his mother’s Facebook account earlier this week.
Bell’s plea on the social media site was heavily promoted by the owner of A1 Security Services LLC, the business that started a donation drive on the boy’s behalf.
“He’s 10 years old. And for a 10-year-old to take that initiative and want to help his mom because she was struggling, I just thought that was amazing,” said A1 Security Services LLC President Theresa Babb.
In a Facebook post, Babb said “People have been more than kind and generous with donations.”
The boy now wants to bless other, less fortunate children in his local community, who are also in need of school supplies.
“I’m gonna put them in bags and go around the community and pass them out to whoever needs school supplies,” Bell said of the extra supplies he’s received.
Tara Lewis, Bell’s mother, in conjunction with Babb, has set up two new Wilmington donation drop-off locations.
The new drop-off locations are at the Wilmington Journal on South Seventh Street and Beach Maintenance on South Kerr Avenue.
Babb said she has instructed her staff to continue to assist with the donation drive and is partnering with local social workers to pinpoint those in need.
“I can’t imagine a little one attending school the first day surrounded by other children with their nice new supplies and having nothing,” wrote on Facebook. “A1 Security Service will continue to collect donations with high hopes we can assist children in starting the school year prepared and not stressed.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson.