My Son Set Up “Free Toy” Stand For Kids In Need

My 6-year-old son, Blake, walked into my room after he was supposed to be in bed. He wanted to talk. As frustrating as it can be, I always remember this quote that said, “If you don’t listen to the little things, they’ll never tell you the big things”. So, I let him crawl in with me and we talked for a few minutes. I was laying out the next day for him and then I mentioned that he would also need to clean his room after he woke up. He looked at me and said, “Ugh Mom. But that’s a lot of mess. That’s a lot of toys to pick up.” I then explained to him that all of those toys were blessings. That there were many kids out there who didn’t have that many toys, and some had none. His face dropped, it hit him and that really really hurt his heart. He told me that hurt his “heartbeat” and then says, “Wait. I have an idea.” He got up out of my bed, ran into my bathroom and grabbed a tv tray I have next to my bath tub. He drags it into my room and tells me, “We can have kind of like a lemonade stand. I can give them my toys. They can have mine. That’s a great idea right Mom?” My eyes watered and I felt so convicted. I told him we would discuss it in the morning, but that I loved his huge heart. He went to bed.

My eyes were barely open the next morning. He runs in and said, “Mom! I’m ready. Let’s set up my lemonade stand.” I told him I would be up after my coffee and for him to pick out the toys he wanted to give away. He then mentioned that he already had done that. And there in the kitchen were 8 of his toys and a few books. Some were his favorite toys. I walked out there, looked at them and my eyes watered. He really wanted to do this. It was the 1st thing on his heart that morning. He was ready. He then looked at me a little sad and said, “Aw. But I don’t have a sign Mom.” I explained that I had a poster board in the garage and would help him make one. He was super pumped after I brought it out. He then asked me to help him spell the words, but he wanted to write, what he wanted to write. I asked him what he wanted it to say and with the biggest smile, he told me… “Cheer up kids!!! Come to Blake Work’s house! We have free toys for you!!” My eyes started tearing up again as I spelled out each word for him. He was smiling from ear to ear. It meant everything to him. As he drew the little hearts, I knew that his heart truly was just exploding to do this.

We live in an older community. No kids. We are on the end of a cul de sac, no through traffic. Nothing. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. I couldn’t tell him that no one was going to show. That this probably wouldn’t work. So I helped him set up his little stand at the end of our driveway. I pulled out the lawn chairs. His beside his stand and mine for behind him. And we sat. He kept turning around and asking me to “text all the kids”. My heart broke. He was sitting there with every intention of kids in need, swarming his stand. He was waiting for it. I was just trying to think of every way I could make this happen for him. The only thing I could come up with, was to post it on a few local garage sale sites on Facebook. So, I did. I explained to him what my boy was trying to do and I pretty much begged people to come out. And a few did.

He first gave away his favorite robot to a contractor working on the house across the street. He explained to Blake that he had a grandson in Belize who didn’t have much and that he was going to send out his robot to him immediately. He then, however, insisted that Blake takes $5 for it. Blake mentioned that it was free, but after some arm twisting, Blake accepted the $5 and shook the man’s hand thanking him. Almost IMMEDIATELY Blake was talking about giving away the $5.

The next family that came by was the sweetest. It was a Mom and her 2 kids. But this time, they came to bring Blake 2 new toys. They wanted him to know that what he was doing was great and they wanted to brighten his day, since he was brightening others. Blake took the bag, sat it down, and began to show the kids the toys they could choose from. He was grateful for his gifts, but once again, wanted to give away his own. After them playing with him for a few minutes, they left and Blake made sure they took home one of his toys. So they did. He gave away his favorite indoor soccer ball.

The next family had mentioned to me that they did not have much. But, they simply wanted to stop by for the books. I had mentioned to Blake that a family with a little 18-month-old boy was going to stop by for his books. He was so excited and immediately ran back inside to grab more books. He ended up giving away 4 of his favorite books. The family was so grateful.

And last, Blake’s kindergarten teacher stopped by. She wanted to come support him and tell him how proud she was of him. He ended up donating the rest of the toys to his school, for the kids to earn with good behavior. He even took off his favorite Captain America hat that he was wearing and was also trying to give that away as well.

We sat out there together in the Florida sun, for about 6 hours. He never left his stand. He even brought out his little couch to rest on, that way he wouldn’t miss anyone.

This is Blake. This is his heart. He’s a humanitarian. He hurts deeply when others hurt. He’s the first to give and the last to take. He will make sure everyone else in the room has what he was just given. It’s just simply, him. He thanks me for cleaning the house. Begs his Gigi and Papa to bring along his little sister on a date that he has earned with good behavior, just so she is not left out. He will open the door for you and wish you a good day. He’s just something special. We teach him that kindness can make a difference. That it can change the world. That we should love one another, care for one another, and be kind to one another. That day I cried more tears than I have in a long time. He convicted me. He inspired me. He made us proud. This day was just another day for him, it just happened to have gotten more attention.