Boy Turns Down Birthday Gifts, Raises $2,600 For Charity
TOWNSEND (CBS) - A third-grader from Townsend told his mother he didn't need anything for his birthday, so they raised money for charity instead.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports
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Michael Arseneaux is only 9, but he didn't want a video game, or a bike for his birthday.
Instead, he raised money for Chesterbrook Learning Center in Waltham.
"I thought it would be nice and I had everything I wanted," the third-grader told WBZ.
"My mom suggested that since I didn't want anything we could do a charity. I thought it was a good idea."
They raised more than $2,600.
Michael's mother, Kellianne, said she's not surprised her son wanted to help others instead of getting something for himself.
"He's always donated his toys that he wasn't using anymore. He's been doing this from a very young age."
"It just kind of snowballed as people heard in the town what Michael was doing. We got checks in from people that we weren't really too familiar with. We knew they lived in the town, but just from word-of-mouth it kind of expanded quite a bit."
What do Michael's friends think?
"When we told them how much money everybody raised they were shocked," he said.
