This Birthday Boy Gives the Gift of Pizza to Louisiana Flood Victims

A simple act of kindness went a long way when a 9-year-old boy forfeited his birthday present to feed the hungry and homeless in the wake of the Louisiana floods, which have been described as the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Hurricane Sandy. Where more than 20 inches of rain fell in and around one of the hardest-hit parishes in East Baton Rouge, his sacrifice was a welcomed reprieve.

It all began when Lanie Boutte, a nearby resident of Lafayette asked her son Carson on the evening of his ninth birthday (August 19) what he wanted for his present. His response to his mother was, “The poor people whose houses flooded … what I would really like to do is bring them lunch,” she told The Advertiser.

Watching a Facetime session with Boutte’s sister as her house was flooding motivated Carson’s choice for the ideal gift.

Aplus reports that at first she suggested sandwiches and chips, but then her husband had the bright idea of pizza. Boutte recalled, “I said I would spend $100 since that’s what I was going to spend on Carson’s present. I decided to post it on Facebook in case any of my family wanted to chip in, too.” In this generation, Carson’s heartwarming request was met with a deluge of responses to her post, including Dominoes who agreed to match the first 100 pizzas.

Thanks to the power of social media the community banded together to help and the order grew to 363 pizzas. On August 20, Carson got his birthday wish as a pizza delivery guy for the day, loading up the family van to serve the flood victims, firefighters and police officers.

To celebrate Carson’s selfless gesture, local cake maker Sarah Trosclair designed a very special themed cake — what else could it be but in the shape of a pizza.