A man asks online for volunteers to repaint an elder neighbor's home. He gets over 6,000 responses.
Communities. This is what they're for.
Teens. They often don't know how their words can hurt. And this is one such case ... but with a very happy ending.
Josh Cyganik has worked for Union Pacific Railroad across the street from the house below in Pendelton, Oregon, for years. One day while at work, he heard some mean words coming from nearby.
Image Josh Cyganik, used with permission.
Some snarky teens were commenting on the state of the home...
*dramatic re-enactment*
...all while the owner, Leonard Bullock, was sitting on the porch! I mean. Not cool. Someone send those kids to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood class please. (I wish this existed.)
As Josh told ABC News, he did not enjoy overhearing this nonsense.
"[The teenagers] said they need to burn it and tear it down and nobody deserves that ... I saw Leonard had his head down, and I felt bad for him. After a couple of days, I knew there was something I could do to help."
Josh had worked across the street, waving as he passed, for around four years, but his first convo with Leonard was right after hearing those teens.
And it went something like, "Mind if I paint your house?"
Leonard, being the good sport that he is, was totally into that. His friend agreed! Kindness given, kindness received badge UNLOCKED!
As Josh told ABC news, Leonard was excited! He "could hardly talk he was so ecstatic."
With the homeowner's enthusiastic permission to paint the home, it was time to get some help from the community!
Suddenly, the likes started rolling in. (This is also where I start to like Facebook for being such a great place for communities to come together.)
There are over 6,000 shares and counting on his original Facebook call for help.
And with comments like these:
And on the day Josh scheduled to paint, people started rolling in...
Image via Union Pacific, used with permission.
How'd it turn out?
GIF via Josh Cyganik's Facebook, used with permission.
That's what kindness looks like. Everyday kindness.
According to Josh what he did for Leonard is what anyone would do if given the chance: "According to the media, I'm a hero. I'm not a hero. I just heard something that bothered me. Anyone would have done the same thing. Everyone has it in their heart to do things like this."
Josh and Leonard. Image via Union Pacific.
Here's to seeing more of that every day.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't