After losing his parents, boy makes it his mission to cheer up strangers

Jaden Hayes and Steve Hartman.
(Image credit: YouTube.com/CBSEveningNews)

When Jaden Hayes was 4, his father died, and soon after his mother also passed away, unexpectedly, in her sleep. Understandably, Hayes was surrounded by upset relatives and friends, and while trying to cope with his own grief, he decided it was time to cheer people up.

Hayes asked his temporary guardian to purchase small toys like dinosaurs and rubber ducks, so he could pass them out in downtown Savannah, Georgia. "I'm trying to make people smile," he told CBS News' Steve Hartman at the time. He succeeded, and got plenty of hugs from grateful strangers.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.