12-year-old boy filmed filling in giant potholes so people stop 'messing up their cars like my mom did'
A 12-year-old boy in Muskegon Heights, Mich. took it upon himself to do some road work last week, single-handedly filling giant potholes in the road after they damaged his mother’s and grandmother’s cars. Video of the Good Samaritan was posted on Facebook last Wednesday by his mother and has since gone viral.
Monte Scott had grown sick and tired of the potholes plaguing the community and his family members, so he decided to make the most of his free time after arriving home early from a half day at school, according to USA Today. The boy pulled on a red and orange hoodie, grabbed a shovel and a garbage can filled with dirt from his backyard and got to work filling in the potholes.
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He never even informed his family of his plans — but someone happened to be driving by and spotted his one-man construction site. “
You’re gonna be something, too. You’re a hard worker,” a man can be heard saying from behind the camera as he hands the tween a tip for his work.
“He really got a garbage can filling these potholes,” a woman adds. “Because his granny drive down this street and they down here.”
The video was posted to Facebook and went viral, eventually finding its way back to Scott’s mom.
“I was at work, and I got a text message from my niece, and she’d seen the video on Facebook,” said Trinell Scott, who was delighted by her son’s altruistic behavior, but not surprised. “That’s just the type of kid he is. When he sees there’s a problem or a need, and he thinks he can fix it, he’ll try to fix it.”
The proud mom couldn’t help but share the video on her own Facebook page, and brag about her son in the process, of course. “I love my son,” she wrote. “He has a heart of gold.”
The video has been watched more than 60,000 times, and comments from impressed viewers have been flooding in.
“I love this! Bless his sweet heart,” one person wrote.
“Initiative. Caring. What if we all took responsibility? Kudos young man. Great job mom!” wrote another.
In an interview with WZZM-TV, Scott said his intentions were simple: He just wanted to help others. “I didn’t want people messing up their cars like my mom did,” he told the station. “If somebody were to drive down the street and hit a pothole [they] would have to pay like $600 to $700 to get their car fixed. They would be mad.”
He even described his process, which entails digging dirt from his backyard to fill up the garbage can, wheeling the can out into the road, shoveling dirt into the craters and patting it down to make the surface smooth and compact.
“I make sure it’s all even, and then I got some dirt, scoop it into the middle and level it out,” he said.
Muskegon Heights mayor Kimberley Sims took the opportunity to congratulate the boy on his industriousness but said she was sorry that “the problem is so bad that he feels he has to do that.” She also addressed the town’s shortcomings.
“We have a constant issue of potholes,” Sims told USA Today. Winter weather has done a lot of damage to the roads this year, she added, and construction crews in Muskegon Heights are working hard, but they’re shorthanded.
“I commend the young man’s efforts,” Sims said. “He’s 12. He should be getting ready for school the next day or playing video games.” She called his efforts a “true testament” of his love for his community and family. She added that “policy improvements, plans and conversations” are in the works for Muskegon Heights, so hopefully citizens won’t be driven by desperation to take charge of situations like this.
In total, Scott filled about 15 potholes in the road that day — but his work is not done yet.
“I’ll keep doing it,” he said, “to keep helping the community out.”
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