If you have a Facebook page, you probably already know about this story.
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A 10 year old boy named Colin, in Michigan, is turning 11. When his mom asked him about what he wanted for his birthday party he told her not to bother planning one because he had no friends. She thought it would be a fun surprise to start a Facebook page for him and ask her family and friends to like the page. Then Colin could see that he did have people who were thinking about him.
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When I checked this morning, 1.9 million people have liked his page.
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It’s one thing to click like on a page, Facebook users do it all the time. We click like on pages for funny quotes, products and our local school districts. By doing that, we get funny quotes on our news feeds, coupons from yogurt companies and school closure updates. We click the add friend button and then get updates from our friends and family about their pets, kids and lives.
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People who aren’t on Facebook believe it serves no purpose. They might think that they don’t want people to know things about them, or that it is a waste of time. Some of that is true. Some of what I read on Facebook doesn’t enrich my life, a funny quote or coupon from a yogurt company isn’t going to improve my life that much. But this story, this story is a Facebook win. A win really for all of us.
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I don’t want to be melodramatic, but this is big.
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Not only did people click like on a Facebook page for Colin, they are taking action.
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Colin’s Mail
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Look at that! This is a photo from Colin’s Facebook page of his mom collecting mail for Colin. These are cards from actual people who got off of the computer and took action! These are actual stamps!
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Colin’s Birthday Gifts
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This is Colin’s mom and dad and the mini van packed full with gifts and cards from strangers. Strangers who not only clicked the like button, but took action. That is the power of Facebook. That is the power of social media.
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This may or may not change Colin’s school life. Haters gonna hate. But boy, this sure gives me hope!
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Happy Birthday Colin!
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I fell in love with this story when I read it on FB. I wished him a happy birthday but what I really wanted to do was crawl into my computer and give him a hug. I hope he enjoys looking at all the mail he received- my only concern is that because he highly sensitive and has a sensory disorder, he’ll be overwhelmed by all the mail! But, I hope he loves it and feels wrapped up in support. Thanks for posting the story!!
~Deb