A police officer from Indiana is being applauded for his kind actions. He went out of his way to support a young man as he operated a lemonade stand in his South Bend community.
NBC affiliate WNDU reported that Jaelynn was totally shocked when South Bend Officer Ron Glon appeared at his stand and offered to help with the sales.
As though that wasn’t enough, Glon additionally promised to personally match 100 percent of the proceeds that Jaelynn made for the afternoon.
“I’m out of words, I’m out of words. It’s crazy,” the 12-year-old boy told the outlet.
Jaelynn’s mother, Tina Wilson, conceded that she thought something was wrong when Glon initially showed up. She assumed they would be told to shut down the stand that Tina and her four-year-old son operated on every few weeks together.
"*" indicates required fields
“I thought, ‘Oh, we’re in trouble,” she recalled to the outlet.
However, to her surprise, Glon simply let them know that he wanted to help out – both financially and physically.
“Me and Jaelynn are going to be waiting on people, collecting money, serving drinks, and I’m going to match 100 percent of what we take in, out of my pocket,” he told Jaelynn’s grandmother in WNDU’s clip.
And so he did. For the day, Jaelynn and Glon served customers in the parking lot while additionally finding the time to play catch with a football and get to know one another over a cup of fresh lemonade.
Marcia Brown, a loyal customer of Jaelynn, said she wasn’t amazed by Glon’s kind actions, “Ron Glon is a sweet individual,” She said.
Jaelynn told the source he would treasure the experience for the rest of his life.
“It came to my heart and I thought of him as a family member because it really meant a lot for a police officer to help somebody who they don’t even know,” he said. “They are just out here doing what they want to do, and he came to support them.” He noted that he dreams of turning his lemonade stand into a food truck, buying a Nissan GTR, and joining the NBA.
And as for Glon, the reason he aided Jaelynn was for much more than being thoughtful and kind, particularly during a time and period when police have been reprimanded or criticized for their unjust treatment of the Black community.
“His mother is concerned about him not knowing whether or not to trust police officers or not,” he explained to the outlet. “My job is to tell him that he has nothing to worry about. Don’t be fearful, don’t be afraid of us.”
Glon ended up donating $150, and Jaelynn said he looks up to Officer Glon and that he’s very thankful for all of the strength and compassion he’s given him.
“It made me feel so good to be able to work with a police officer because you got to think, he could know everything that’s happening with George Floyd, riots and all this stuff,” Wilson said. “He has to take on that and make sure that he doesn’t become one of those cops.”