Kind Man Sees How Tired His Young Neighbor Is After Becoming A Full-Time Single Dad Of 3, So He Steps In To Help
He took to TikTok to spread holiday kindness and cheer.
fizkes / Shutterstock The holidays are a magical time meant to spread love and cheer, but not every family is fortunate enough to make their holiday season special. That’s why one kind man decided he wanted to make a difference in his community.
The man had a brilliant idea of how he could positively impact his neighbor's life.
Colin McConnell, a published author with a large following on TikTok, decided to use his platform to help out his neighbor and friend Donald Wilson, a single young dad with three little ones.
In a TikTok post, McConnell explained that he lives in a duplex, with Wilson and his children — a five-year-old son, and two daughters, ages three and one — living above him. The kids frequently draw with chalk on their front door steps, and McConnell always likes to leave them a fun drawing to return home to.
Wilson opened up to McConnell a couple of months ago about how his kids will be around more often since their mother recently passed.
“I see him doing the absolute best that he can with what he has,” McConnell said. “I know from having conversations with him that he's having a difficult time, and so are his [kids].”
McConnell said he helps out the family when he can, like grabbing the donuts for the kids when he stops to get coffee, but he felt inspired to do more. After receiving consent from the father, McConnell decided to turn to TikTok to share their story and link an Amazon wish list of things people could purchase for the family. He added food, snacks, socks, clothes and more to the list.
“If anyone wants to help me help this family and spread some kindness, you can go to my Amazon and it'll come right to my house and I'll give it to the family,” McConnell said in his video, posted on November 16.
His video went viral, and TikTok users from all around pitched in to help the family.
Four days later, McConnell posted an update to share the dozens of Amazon packages, containing snacks, toys and clothes for the family, crowding his home. “I posted [the original video] and I woke up the next morning and there were already boxes on my porch,” he told WXYZ-TC Detroit in an interview.
The packages included pop tarts, soups, coloring books, barbies, mittens and sweaters, to name a few.
Followers asked what they could get for the father, and after his reluctance to reveal anything he wanted or needed, McConnell discovered that Wilson could use some furniture and shirts. He also suggested the idea of sending the family ornaments and Christmas cards.
Friends of McConnell also gifted the family a turkey, a Christmas tree and a couch.
McConnell plans to film and post the reveal of all the gifts to the kids on Christmas.
After McConnell showed Wilson everything his followers chipped in and sent to support his family, he was deeply moved by the abundance of support. Together, they decided they would wrap up all of the toys to give to the kids on Christmas day.
McConnell even arranged for a man to play Santa and present the gifts to the kids on Christmas morning, making it their most memorable holiday yet. "I'll be dressing Santa's little helper and we're going to be giving the kids their Christmas gifts with the big man himself," he shared.
McConnell will continue to post updates on this moving story and plans to film the presentation of gifts on Christmas day.
Wilson is overwhelmingly shocked and grateful for the means strangers have gone through to support him and his family.
“He said he's always felt alone, and he said it was just getting harder and harder,” McConnell shared. “But he said everything he does, he does for these kids, and all of you in this community coming together gave him this new energy and this new outlook on life, showing him that there are people here for him and there are people who care about him and his family.”
This will be the children's first Christmas without their mother, but Wilson feels her spirit through the kindness everyone has shown his family. “It’s like she’s here. It’s like she’s a guardian angel speaking to us through all of you," he said.
McConnell hopes he can inspire his followers to spread kindness and lead movements of their own to support their community and make a difference, this holiday season especially.
"It takes one raindrop to make a flood," McConnell said. "I chose to be a raindrop, and my community became a flood of goodness and positivity to make an impact in these little kids' lives."
Francesca Duarte is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, and spirituality topics.