The little boy sobbed and shook his head.
“What’s the matter, kid?
Are you alright?” he asked, approaching him.
Derek noticed the boy was hiding his hands behind him. “What are you hiding there, buddy?” he asked. “Is something bothering you?
You can tell me what it is. I’ll help you!”
“Is…it’s just so cold out there,” the boy said finally. “I am just cold…”
With that, the boy showed his hands to Derek, which terrified him.
The little kid’s hands were freezing and had turned blue from the cold.
Derek quickly took off his gloves and made the boy wear them. “Look, I know they’re too big for you, buddy, but they’ll keep you warm. Did you lose your gloves?”
The boy shook his head.
“Mommy and daddy said they just…they don’t have money. They promised to get new ones next month. My old ones are ripped.”
Derek felt terrible for the boy.
“Oh, that’s not a problem, kid,” he said. “I have this friend at the clothing store, and he makes the best gloves! I’ll get you one after school, ok?
Now, come on, you’re going to be late for class…”
The boy wiped his tears, thanked Derek, and off he went to his class. He had no idea Derek had lied to him about having a friend at the clothing store.
Derek didn’t get his coffee that day. Instead, he walked to a nearby store and spent his last dollar on a pair of gloves and a scarf for the boy.
Anyway, he was expecting his paycheck in a few days, so he didn’t think it would be a problem.
And that day, before the boy left the bus, Derek gifted him the gloves and scarf.
“These will keep you warm,” he said. “Don’t trouble your parents about it, ok?”
Derek’s eyes welled up as the boy hugged him goodbye before exiting the bus. Little did he know this kindness would find its way back to him.
A few days later, Derek was unexpectedly summoned to the principal’s office.
“Did you call me for a meeting, Mr.
Butler?” he asked, knocking on the principal’s door.
Mr. Butler grinned. “Please take a seat, Derek.
We need to talk.”
Derek’s heart skipped a beat. He thought he was in trouble, but when Mr. Butler started speaking, his eyes welled up with happy tears.
“You didn’t need to do this, sir.
Good Lord, thank you so much!”
“You earned it, Derek!” exclaimed Mr. Butler. “We felt compelled to do this after learning of your assistance to Aiden and his family.
His father is a firefighter who was severely injured, so they are currently struggling. You did a wonderful thing by assisting him. It means a lot to the little boy and his family.
And about that box…”
Derek had left a box inside the school campus, right beside the front gate, two days before. It was filled with gloves and scarves, with a placard beside it that read: “If you feel cold, get something for yourself from here. I’d appreciate it.
— Derek, the school bus driver.”
The night after helping Aiden, Derek couldn’t sleep well, thinking about the other kids who might be in the same position as Aiden. So he bought more scarves and gloves after receiving his salary, filled a box with the purchases, and left it on the school campus.
The school principal and several parents appreciated what he did, and Derek was felicitated in front of the whole school. Soon, his pay increased too.
But that’s not where it all ended.
The school started a fund to help children from financially challenged backgrounds. Miraculously, a pair of gloves, a scarf, and a bus driver’s kind heart made the wonderful initiative possible.
What can we learn from this story?
