'We Just Wanted To Do Something": Community Comes Together On Social Media, Raises Money To Replace Boy's Stolen Bike
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Stories about social media and it's negative effects are constantly in the news, but it can also be used as a positive platform. That was evident this week in one Pittsburgh neighborhood.
When Laura Stull showed up at Dorothy Chaffee's home in Brighton Heights this past Monday, she had a surprise for Chaffee's son, Kingston. She recorded the visit using her cellphone camera, and posted it on social media.
Kingston, 9, who is autistic, recently had his bike stolen.
Stull read on a Facebook page, called "Neighbors of Brighton Heights," that Kingston had only recently learned to ride his bike without training wheels.
So, Stull had an idea - why not show Kingston and his mom what good neighbors are all about.
Stull told KDKA-TV News, "We just wanted to do something. It just took one comment, 'Why don't we all just put in $10? I've got 10.' It was just, me too, me too, me too. It was just a treasure of finding money all over Brighton Heights on Memorial Day."
They raised about $165 and bought Kingston a bike.
It was like Christmas in May for the little boy. He couldn't have been happier to get a new bicycle.
In fact, Stull's 11-year-old son, Jonah, played a big part in the story. He gave Kingston his bike for a backup.
Jonah put it this way: "I just imagined how bad he felt, and you know, I just wanted to give him the bike, and I felt good about it."
This was one time social medial turned out to have a positive impact.
And all it took was a single Facebook post to start the ball rolling.
"It just took that one comment, and seeing all the support we got, if we all did things like this more often, the good could outweigh the bad," Stull said.
