A 7th grader in New York bought his friend a pair of ‘Panda Dunks’ after watching him get bullied over his worn-out footwear.
via Page Six:
Romello “Mello” Early, 12, said he had grown tired of watching fellow 7th grader Melvin Anderson, also 12, face ridicule from their peers at Buffalo Creek Academy Charter School in Buffalo, N.Y., over his shoes, according to The Washington Post and Today.
Some of Melvin’s peers mocked him for being “dirty,” which didn’t sit well with either student. “It made me feel sad, mad and very disliked,” Melvin told the Post.
“It just put a real ache in my stomach to see somebody have to go through that,” Mello told NBC affiliate WGRZ.
Last month, Mello became fed up with the bullying. He later asked his mom Anita James to take him to the store so he could buy his friend a pair of shoes with his allowance, and she agreed, per the reports.
Mello used $135 he had saved from his allowance to purchase the pair of black-and-white Nike Dunks, according to the Post. The next day, he gave them to Melvin at school.
Melvin told the Post he was “grateful” for Mello’s gesture. “I was totally shocked,” he said. “I felt very happy and very surprised.”
At one point during the day, Melvin placed his new shoes on the desk of Bryant Brown Jr., Dean of Culture at Buffalo Creek Academy, per WGRZ’s report. After learning what had transpired, Brown shared Mello’s kind gesture with the world.
“My student Melo told me he was tired of other students picking on Melvin about his shoes,” Brown wrote on Facebook, later adding, “This is what I live for ? ? be that helping hand.”
Melo told WGRZ that he understands how it feels to be picked on, having experienced bullying himself. “All the grades I went through, I was picked on because of my height,” the boy said.
“And the way it made me feel, I just thought … nobody else should have to go through that feeling,” he added.
Melvin said he is doing some extra chores at home to try and repay his friend for the gift, according to WGRZ. But Mello insists otherwise.
“You don’t have to pay me back,” he told his friend. “It’s just a gift from me to you.”
With all the chaos happening in the world, it’s nice to know that there are good moments happening as well.
