On his seventh birthday, Jacksonville, Florida resident Jermaine Bell received one hell of a gift. Bell had saved up for over a year so that he could visit Animal Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando, but unselfishly gave up his funds to help support victims of Hurricane Dorian. When Disney heard about what he had done, cast and crew from Disney World visited his home on his birthday to gift him with a free trip to the Florida park.
Bell donated the money he saved to help feed evacuees impacted by the devastation of Dorian after he saw the hurricane approach South Carolina. He had just visited the state to see his grandmother earlier in the month. He subsequently spent his savings on chips, bottled water, and hot dogs for the evacuees and even served them himself to the victims on a highway in SC.
On Monday, Disney made sure to highlight his story by showing his reaction to the surprise birthday present. "Never in a million years could we have imagined anything like this from him," Jermaine Bell's mother Lauren Creech said. "Just coming up with an idea to help someone else... It really does instill in him that when you do good, you know, good comes back to you."
Bell added, "Be strong and if you do good things, you will be rewarded." Him and his family will set off to Disney World later this month on a VIP trip.
