Do a good deed, everybody wins. At least, that's the holiday lesson one 9-year-old from Ashland County, Ohio recently learned. He gave up an on-the-way Christmas gift—a brand-new Xbox One—preferring instead that his grandmother take the $300 the console would cost and spend that on 30 blankets for the local homeless population.
Mikah Frye's selfless gesture caught Microsoft's attention, and the company decided to give Frye that Xbox after all. And when he picked it up at the Microsoft Store, there were a few more gifts waiting for him—two bags' worth, in fact. Not only did Frye score a Minecraft-themed Xbox One S console, but he also received some extra games and accessories.
The organization that benefitted from Frye's initial act of charity, Ashland Church Community Emergency Shelter Services, was one that his family used years' prior when they ran into financial difficulties. And Frye did a bit more than just buy some blankets for them to distribute; he also included handwritten notes for each person receiving a blanket.
"They gave me a blanket, but I had to leave it. That's why I want you to have your own blanket ... Today, I live in my own house, and someday you will too. Your friend Mikah," his notes read.
As described by Frye's grandmother, Terry Brant, Frye's own experience with homelessness likely inspired his interest in helping others. He arrived at his plan to purchase and distribute blankets after he saw some homeless individuals while he was out with his family. He asked his grandmother how they keep warm during the winter months and reasoned that providing people with a blanket might help them out a little bit.
"He knew what it was like to not have a blanket at night and have to give it back," Brant told Fox 8. "So the first thing he wanted to do is give a blanket that they could keep."
When she learned that Microsoft was going to reward Frye with an Xbox One S$338.00 at Amazon for his selflessness, it was nearly impossible to keep the secret. "When they called and told me I was just instantly crying on the phone and I couldn't believe it," she said.
Frye's tears followed soon after he was led to the rear of a Microsoft Store, through lines of applauding employees, to receive his early holiday gifts—and meet Santa, of course.
