A 12-year old Antoine Tom, from Decker Lake Elementary School (DLES), has been dubbed by the school as the DLES Kindness Hero, after his efforts to raise money for his classmate in need.
When Antoine went to school on the fifth of this month and couldn’t find his friend at school, he asked around and his teachers told him about the house fire that had destroyed his classmate and best friend’s home. Distraught, Antoine came home and started packing away all his books and toys.
“Antoine was really sad and said he was worried, and told me that his best friend had lost his home to a fire. He started packing away all his toys and books that he just got for Christmas and told me that his friend needed it more than he did and that we didn’t have any money to just give,” said Sabrina Tom, mother of Antoine, who convinced him eventually to keep his toys and books for himself.
Antoine then rallied after his mother to pull up some family recipes and put up a bake sale. The money the family raised through the bake sale, all went to his friend’s family.
“We were just shy $30 and I added that to round it up,” said Tom.
In a school newsletter, the school dubbed Antoine as a DLES Kindness Hero and wrote, “Antoine raised $1000 for his classmate, who lost his home to a house fire over Winter Break. He organized a very successful Bake Sale!”
Last year during Halloween, Antoine had pulled another act of kindness showcasing a true spirit of giving. Dressed as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Antoine had gone around trick or treating to his family and friends’ homes but when he got back home, he realized they didn’t have any candy to give away for other kids coming to his place. When kids started coming to his house, without hesitating, Antoine grabbed his own trick or treat candy and started handing it out and sharing his joy with other kids.
“My son with the caring heart. I thought it was so sweet he wanted to make sure other kids got candy. He didn’t even care if he ended up giving out all what he just got,” said Sabrina Tom, about her son in a Facebook post.
“I do lots of things like these because my uncle tells me that doing good things for others is good for your health and it makes you feel really good. I know my grandma would have been proud of me,” said Antoine, adding a message that was truly refreshing, coming from a 12-year old.
“Stay home, stay six feet apart and wear masks,” he said.
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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