A Young Boy Helps His Classmate After Seeing Him Get Teased for Shoes

year ago

Fair-weather friends are fun when times are good. However, you can only recognize real friends when times are tough. And we’re talking about those rare gems who show an underlying kindness and go the extra mile for you, just like the young middle-schooler, Mello, did for his pal. This incredibly touching demonstration of friendship that nearly moved a school administrator to tears will make you see the world through hopeful eyes.

A young boy with a big heart and a plan

In recent weeks, after watching his friend Melvin Anderson get teased by fellow classmates for wearing worn-out shoes, Mello, a young middle-schooler, got so upset that he ended up calling his mom, crying as he explained the situation. He then asked her if they could go to a shoe store in order to find a fresh new set of kicks to offer to his friend.

In order to pay for the purchase, the 12-year-old suggested that his mom withhold his allowance and some of his Christmas gifts in order to pay for the purchase. That night, after buying the gift, the young boy went to sleep earlier than usual, excited to wake up and surprise his pal at school the following day.

The friend’s reaction upon receiving his surprise gift

The next day, Mello handed his friend the box of new shoes. The young boy couldn’t believe his eyes. “I felt very happy and very surprised,” he explained. He decided to save up his allowance to pay his friend back. However, big-hearted Mello told him, “You don’t have to pay me back. That’s just a gift from me to you.”

The touching post by the dean that went unexpectedly viral

Upon finding out about the heartwarming gesture of his student, Mr. Brown, the dean of the school, got teary and decided to take a photo of the 2 pals posing side-by-side, holding the box of a new pair of shoes in order to mark the touching moment. He posted the picture on his social media, adding, “We truly think it was a kind gesture that I haven’t seen ever in my life... I was lost for words.” And to everybody’s surprise, the post has since gone viral across social media platforms.

Melvin’s dad’s reaction to the kind gesture and his valuable message to others

The dean later called Melvin’s father to tell him the touching story. And while he was initially disturbed about his son’s mistreatment, Mr. Anderson was warmed by Mello’s kind gesture. He acknowledged how hurtful unkind words can be, explaining, “I don’t hope everybody buys everybody a pair of sneakers, but instead of being mean and telling jokes, just console one another. Lift everybody up.”

Mello also echoed a similar statement, saying, “Treat someone the way you want to be treated... I just wish people would treat other people better.”

The meaningful gesture turned out to be contagious.

The story even caught the attention of a founder of a local organization in their city, and to celebrate the good deed, he decided to take the 2 boys to a Buffalo Bills game in November.

Finally, Mr. Brown hopes that other families learn a lesson in goodwill from this unexpected viral story as he stated, “We want to try and build a foundation within our school to make sure that kids won’t ever feel like they don’t want to go to school. We can help them, just like Mello helped Melvin.”