7-Year-Old Donates Piggybank To Vandalized Mosque, Gets Unexpected Gift In Return

Lifestyle

| November 20, 2015 | By Jason Owen

A 7-year-old boy is warming the hearts of millions of across the country with his touching gesture after a place of worship was vandalized in his hometown.

The Islamic Center of Pflugerville, a mosque in Texas, was vandalized on Sunday night when torn pages of the Quran smeared with feces were left outside the entrance of the mosque, police said. Officials are calling the vandalism a hate crime.

No physical damage was done to the property, but clean-up costs were estimated to be about $150.

Many in the community offered support in light of the vandalism, but young Jack Swanson wanted to do something more.

Swanson, who was collecting money – mostly pennies – to save up for his very own iPad, donated all the money in his piggybank to the Islamic Center. It was about $20 worth.

“Jack’s $20 are worth $20 million to us because it’s the thought that counts,” Faisal Naeem, one of the mosque’s board members, told ABC News. “Jack is just a little older than my son, Ibrahim. If we have more kind-hearted kids like them in the world, I have hope for our future.”

Swanson’s mother, Laura, told ABC affiliate KVUE that things in Pflugerville were not like things in Paris, or other parts of the country where a backlash has once again erupted against Muslims, and in particular, Syrian refugees.

“What happened in Paris in not what’s happening in Pflugerville.”

Naeem said that he sees a lot of “generalizations” levied against the Muslim community after events like that in Paris last week, but he remains encouraged by his local community’s support after the vandalism.

As for Jack, well, he received a lot of praise, and then an unexpected gift. All the feels, right here.