6-year-old boy stuns with graphic T-shirt on first day of school

Alex Lasker
Updated

A photo of a 6-year-old boy rocking a custom T-shirt his mother made for him to wear on his first day back to school has gone viral.

Nikki Rajahn, a Georgia mom of four young children who runs her own personalization company called Unfading Adornments, took to Facebook last week to share the shirt her son, Blake, asked her to design for his first day of class at North Fayette Elementary School.

"I have to brag on my son," Rajahn wrote. "I told him that as a back to school gift, I will make him any shirt he would like. It could have anything — a basketball theme, football, etc. — which are all his favorites. He thought a while and said, 'Will you please make me a shirt that says, 'I will be your friend' for all the kids who need a friend to know that I am here for them?’”

"Never underestimate your kid's heart for others! I love my sweet Blake!" Rajahn ended her post.

The sweet message has been shared over 7,400 times and racked up more than 14,000 reactions.

Nearly 1,500 people flocked to the comment section to express their own desire for one of the boy's anti-bullying shirts, whether for their child or for themselves — a request which the designer happily obliged.

Rajahn quickly created a site to sell the bright orange tees, with plans to donate a portion of the profits to the Real Life Center, a local nonprofit that aims to "provide help for hurting families" by giving them "means to cope with the financial, emotional, and spiritual hardships of life."

A product listing for the shirt features a quote from Blake, which his mother describes as his mission: "I want to make sure that kids that are bullied know they have a friend already."

Rajahn took to Facebook again on Friday to express gratitude for the overwhelming response her son's story received.

"Thank you so much for all the support and kind words!" she wrote. "I am trying to keep up with everyone's comments and read them all to Blake and so far he is blown away! He doesn't understand why everyone thinks this is a big deal because he thought everyone thinks like him. He said 'oh this is so great because now more and more people will have more and more friends!'"