What started off as a tough life lesson has turned into reminder of the good in the world for a child in Everett, Washington.
Jeremy’s neighbor, Amy Steenfott, describes the boy as “quite the entrepreneur.” At just 11 years old, Jeremy is not afraid to roll up his sleeves to make his own spending money. He often holds lemonade stands to sell beverages and cotton candy, and he mows lawns in summer and shovels snow in winter.
“He has dreams of owning his own vending machine business in the future,” she wrote.
Sadly, Jeremy’s dreams were dashed last summer when he was robbed while holding a lemonade stand in his neighborhood. He used all of his allowance money to purchase the products and have change available for his customers. What happened next was a glimpse into the dark side of humanity for this boy, and an eye-opener for everyone who heard the story.
“As he worked in the sun trying to earn a little extra spending money, he was approached by the pictured suspect, who offered him a 100-dollar bill for a drink but asked for exact change,” the Everett Police Department wrote in a Facebook post. “Jeremy did his best to wring all his allowance money to give the suspect $85 in change.”
Later, Jeremy went to a gas station and found out that the $100 bill he’d received was fake. The thief had robbed him of every last cent of his allowance money, leaving him and worse off than he started!
“While our detectives work hard to bring closure to every case, this case struck a particular chord with them,” wrote the police. “And they want to do everything they can to get justice for Jeremy and catch this counterfeiter.”
Jeremy’s community was outraged by the theft. The police’s Facebook was flooded with messages of support, and many people asked how they could help. Neighbor Amy stepped up to start a GoFundMe for the boy, which quickly surpassed the modest $250 goal she originally set.
To date, the campaign has raised an eye-popping $25,860!
Faith in humanity, restored! It’s awful that poor Jeremy had to have this happen to him, but hopefully he’s comforted knowing how many total strangers care about him. His family plans to use the extra money to send him to business school someday!
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