Deputy Buys Tablet For Little Girl After Going To Her Lemonade Stand
Gabrielle Garcar is a 9-year-old in Ohio who ran a lemonade stand earlier this week. She wanted to raise money for a tablet to do schoolwork and play on. Lake County Sheriff's Deputy, Zak Ropos, stopped by for a cup of lemonade when he heard the reason behind the lemonade stand and found out about the family's financial hardships.
Ropos originally planned on giving Garcar an older tablet he had at home, but after he found out that it didn't work, he went to Best Buy and bought a brand new tablet.
"She's 9 years old and she's willing to work for what she wants, and I found that very admirable of her," Ropos said. "I knew her lemonade stand wasn't probably going to bring in enough money for a tablet, but seeing that she was willing to work for what she wanted, I was willing to help her. People have helped me out in my life, so it was kind of like a pay-it-forward type thing."
Ropos went to Garcar's brother's football practice the next day and met up with the family to give the well-deserving girl the new tablet.
However, Ropos said that he isn't the only officer who gives to the community. He said that one of his lieutenants had recently donated $200 to a needy family, and two fellow deputies just days before purchased a bike for a boy who needed help getting to soccer practice.
"That's how it is at Lake County. Everyone is caring here," Ropos said. "We all give our shirt off our back for people."
Melissa Garcar, Gabriella's mother, said that the kindness of the officer is amazing and that the heart of her daughter is also kind.
"I told him, 'I just need you to know that you've given this gift to a really awesome girl,'" Melissa Garcar said. "She's got a huge heart. For instance, we were driving to football practice and my gaslight went on and Gabby asked if I wanted her lemonade money to put gas in the car. She is just an awesome child."
Ropos said that he really didn't want all of the attention from the media and that he did what he did just because he wanted to put a smile on the little girl's face.
H/T Today