Hundreds of people flocked to a yard sale in Kingston, Ont., on Saturday after hearing a nine-year-old boy wanted to raise money to buy a headstone for his dead father.
"I just felt bad because there was no gravestone, so I wanted raise money to buy a gravestone," said Blake McGinness.
Blake's father, Rick Lees, who died last year of a stomach aneurysm, is buried at the Wilmer Cemetery just outside Kingston. His gravesite is currently marked only by some of Blake's toys, as the family couldn't afford a gravestone.
News of Blake's yard sale spread, prompting hundreds of people to drop by to pick up merchandise, shake Blake's hand, with many looking for an excuse to drop off some money. One man drove from Montreal to donate a stick signed by the Montreal Canadians.
"I don't think every kid would do something like this, you know, sell all his toys so he could buy a headstone for his father," said one participant. "How could you not come?"
Thousands of dollars were raised Saturday and thousands more have been donated to a trust fund through the Royal Bank.
"It's awesome, it's amazing. We've heard from people, as far away as soldiers in Afghanistan. A company even in Texas offered to donate the gravestone," said Blake's mother, Linda McGinness.
With the costs of the gravestone covered, Blake told the Kingston Whig Standard he plans to donate proceeds from the yard sale to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.
"Now I know there's a lot of good people out there," Blake said.
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