Kind Stranger Buys Boy A Basketball Hoop After Seeing Him Playing With A Trash Can
Jeremiah was playing basketball with a trash can when a stranger decided to buy him a real hoop.
Patricia Williams / Facebook In Alexandra, Louisiana, eight-year-old Jeremiah was shooting hoops in his driveway, only instead of a basketball hoop, he was aiming for a trash can.
When Devin Hinkston saw this, he knew he had to buy this kid a real hoop.
"I always do [random acts of kindness]," Hinkston told ABC’s Good Morning America.
"I'll see kids in the corner store and I'll buy all of them something to snack on. I'll see a homeless person and buy them a bomber jacket or some food. I just never post about it on social media because that's not the reason I'm doing it. I do it from the heart."
When Hinkston drove by Jeremiah’s home and saw the little boy using a garbage can as a hoop, he knew had found his random act of kindness for the day.
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He wanted to gift this boy a basketball hoop, so he did.
Hinkston's unplanned act of kindness was definitely a slam dunk.
Jeremiah, who loves basketball and plays in a league at his local church, was touched by this stranger's generosity, as was his grandmother Patricia Williams.
"Jeremiah was in the background jumping for joy and she was jumping, and I was dropping tears," Hinkston said
Williams took to Facebook to share her appreciation, thanking Hinkston and calling him "Truly an Angel." The feel-good post, which shows a smiling Jeremiah standing between Hinkston and his new hoop, now has thousands of likes and shares, as well as hundreds of comments.
Viewers of the post were touched by this stranger's benevolence, calling Hinkston "amazing" and a "blessing."
"That brought tears to my eyes. There are angels everywhere," one commenter wrote.
"The world needs more people like this," another said.
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Later that day, Jeremiah hit the court at his local church and emerged victorious, scoring 12 points for his team.
Even when he's not on the court, Jeremiah's basketball never leaves his side. He's constantly playing ball and his favorite player is LeBron James.
"Everywhere he goes he totes his little basketball," Williams told ABC's Good Morning America.
What's more, Hinkston's generosity didn't end with the delivery. He has stayed in touch with the family and actually plans to go back to the house to help them assemble the basketball hoop.
In the future, Hinkston hopes to extend his kindness even further by funding a nonprofit for the kids in the community so they have activities to do after school.
According to Psychology Today, performing random acts of kindness is actually scientifically linked to happiness and contentment.
Positive chemicals — like dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin — are released, making you feel better both physically and mentally.
Though by definition you are acting selflessly, acts of kindness are beneficial to everyone involved. Even simply witnessing others be kind is enough to release the same "feel-good" chemicals.
It's clear that Hinkston, Williams and, of course, Jeremiah were all positively impacted by the kindness of Hinkston's action.
"You should always be kind. You never know what somebody else is going through," Hinkston said.
Audrey Jaber is a writer living in Boston, Massachusetts. She covers a variety of topics for YourTango, including news and entertainment.