Grab the tissues: One mailman’s sweet gesture for a boy who can’t afford books

Twelve-year-old Matthew Flores just wants to read, but the only thing he could get his hands on was junk mail.

Last Friday, mailman Ron Lynch was approached by Matthew while delivering mail. “I saw him reading ads, and then he asked me if I had any extra mail he could read,” Ron wrote in a Facebook post.

Matthew couldn’t afford books or a bus pass to get to the closest library. “He told me his wish was to have books to read,” wrote Ron.

So this amazing mailman wrote to his Facebook friends, asking them to donate books for Matthew: “Please share and let’s get him tons of reading material! Most kids his age want electronics! It’s great to see his desire, and you should have seen him beam when I said I could help!”

Ron was expecting to get 60 books at most, but so far hundreds have arrived, and hundreds more are expected to come. Matthew now has a bookshelf full of stories to get lost in, from Harry Potter to Wolves of the Beyond.

All kids should be able to experience the magic of reading. And Matthew knows that because he plans to share all his books with other kids in need once he’s done reading them. What an extraordinary kid! And a truly remarkable mailman!

Here at Today’s Parent, we are big proponents of reading, so stories like this absolutely warm our hearts—and make the tears flow. We hope you enjoy your new library, Matthew! As Walt Disney once said, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”

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