A Kid Named Valentine With A Big Heart Gives 750 Reasons To Smile

BEND, OR — Here are 750 reasons to smile at the end of a terrible week that saw another school shooting, Congress’ failure to do anything to protect hundreds of thousands who illegally came to America as children through no fault of their own and signals Russian troll farms may be meddling once again in U.S. elections:

A kid whose last name is Valentine decided to make sure that each of the 750 girls and female staff members at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, got a long-stemmed red rose on, of course, Valentine’s Day. He accomplished his secret mission with GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign that raised $1,570.

Callen Valentine, 18, the captain of his football team, accomplished the feat with the help of his teammates and the community that rallied around his big idea.

Valentine and his buddies pruned and dethorned the roses, then tied a pink ribbon around every stem. Then, with his SUV loaded with buckets full of roses, he hit the road early to make some deliveries before his schoolmates headed off to school. The rest of the roses were handed out at school.

See Also: Random Acts Of Kindness Day: 10 Things To Do

“I think leading by example is really important, especially among people my age because [they’re] not as willing to put themselves out there as much for fear of getting rejected or locked out or whatever,” he said in a video.

It all started in November when he asked his mother how much a single rose would cost. She figured maybe $1.50. Within 30 minutes, he had set up the GoFundMe campaign to raise the money to pull off his idea.

He hopes he planted a seed that will blossom among others.

“I hope that by doing this, some people will take my example and just start doing small acts of kindness,” he told GoFundMe.

“If I can pass on a message to everyone watching and reading, it's that small gestures can be meaningful and that we should all look for ways to make someone's day,” he wrote on the campaign website.

Valentine also hopes he sent a message to the girls in his school that there are more good guys than bad.

“High school can be really crappy for a lot of people,” he said in the video, “but there are guys out there who do appreciate them.”

Photo and video via GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner.