MERIDIAN, Idaho — 6-year-old Sky French is a kindergartner at Ponderosa Elementary with a love for rocks and crystals.
Like many others, last year was difficult for Sky and his mother Leah Blazek.
“2020 was a hard year for us, we lost a lot,” Blazek said. “I'm a single mother with Sky and it's been a lot to navigate things."
When Christmas rolled around, Sky wanted to earn money to buy presents for his family and children in need. To do so, he decided to sell some of his favorite rocks from his collection.
“One day, I just noticed that he was getting a bunch of Post-It notes and writing on them with the stones that he collected,” Blazek said. “I looked over and I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'I'm going to sell my rocks, mom.'"
Sky then asked his mother to take photos of his rocks and share them on Facebook, something she thought was a sweet gesture.
“We posted them for fun on Facebook Marketplace and a few groups that I'm a part of, just trading and selling groups,” Blazek said.
The comments and messages started pouring in about Sky's rock sale, and Blazek couldn't believe what she was seeing.
“We got responses right away, it was crazy,” she said. “Initially, I just thought that people were going to think it was kind of funny and cute, and I had no expectation that people would want to buy them or donate rocks for him to paint or donate crystals to his little rock business. But they did.”
Sky was excited that people were interested in his rock sale, too.
“I was so happy, I was like jumping all over. I was like 'Yah!'” he said.
The rock sale brought in a whopping $1200. Sky had more than enough to buy presents for his family and to donate to Toys for Tots. The rest was put into a college fund by his mother.
“It was more than I could have ever imagined, it was incredibly generous and loving,” Blazek said. “I truly felt like Sky and I were a part of this community, that they genuinely cared about me and about him. We will never forget this Christmas, we will never forget this happened. It’s unforgettable.”
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