Pflugerville boy donated his entire savings to help the mosque cover damages
A little boy from Texas has donated money to a local mosque that was vandalized, in what is believed to be a response to the ISIS-led attacks that shook Paris on Friday, November 13, reports KXAN, an affiliate of NBC.
Little Boy Empties Piggy Bank To Help Texas Mosque[/tweetthis]
The boy is Jack Swanson – a seven-year-old resident of Pflugerville where the Islamic Center of Pflugerville (ICP) was defaced with feces and torn pages of the Quran. After finding out what had been done to the mosque at Windermere Drive, he donated $20 – everything he had saved so far in his piggy bank, to the congregation.
ICP board member Faisal Naeem, who is the father of a little boy around Jack Swanson's age, said the $20 dollars were worth $20 million dollars for him and the Islamic community, because it's the life savings of a little boy and because it is a symbol of hope for communities in general that there are people who understand the attacks on Paris do not represent the mindset of the entire Islamic community. “I have hope for the future”, said Naeem, speaking about the kind-hearted deed of Jack that warmed his heart.
The mosque incident, which is just another in a series of anti-Muslim attacks across U.S. and Canada was discovered on the morning of November 16, when members of the congregation arrived at the Islamic Center to open it for Monday morning prayers. Austin police was notified shortly thereafter, and the news was picked up by the media soon after that. Naeem said that it was the same morning when he noticed a little boy looking on, as he gave interviews to local media about the incident. The ICP board member revealed that the boy, who stood there with his mother, waited for Naeem to finish his interviews before walking up to him with his donation.
Jack's mother Laura Swanson told reporters that she had been discussing the event with Jack in their car and they had spoken about the importance of respecting the faiths of other people. She revealed that Jack was very moved and wanted to help out, which is when he decided to empty his piggy bank for the congregation.
Naeem revealed that Jack's act of kindness has warmed the congregation’s hearts so much that after learning he had been saving up to buy an iPad, the congregation gifted the device to him as a token of their appreciation..
@tannous_mouawad 7-year-old Jack Swanson shows how to fight #terrorism, donates $20 savings to repair Texas mosque vandalized in hate crime
— Jon Hutson (@JonHutson) November 22, 2015