How a Vandalized Mosque Thanked a Little Boy Who Donated His Piggy Bank For Repairs

A small boy with a big heart donated the money from his piggy bank to a vandalized mosque and received an unexpected thank you in return.

The 7-year-old Texas boy, Jack Swanson, was upset when his mother explained to him that the Islamic Center of Pflugerville had been desecrated after the Paris attacks. The young boy was saving money in his piggy bank for an iPad, but decided to charitably help the mosque instead.

Not expecting anything in return, Swanson received a kind thank you from the Muslim community in the form of a parcel in the mail with a note that read:

“Dear Jack, you had saved $20 in your piggybank for an Apple iPad. But then a local Islamic mosque was vandalised. So you donated your $20 to this local Texas mosque. Because of your amazing generosity & kind heart.

“Please enjoy this Apple iPad with our sincere thanks :-). love The American Muslim Community.”

According to the Telegraph , the man behind the note was editor of The Islamic Monthly Magazine and international human rights lawyer Arsalan Iftikhar. In addition, Faisal Naeem, a board member at the Pflugerville mosque, had high words of praise for the boy. Naeem told KXAN:

“It’s 20 bucks, but coming from Jack collecting his pennies it’s worth 20 million bucks to me and to our community.

“This gives me hope because this means it’s not one versus the other.”

He also has a message for the perpetrators who desecrated the mosque. The board member said:

“[Whoever] did this doesn’t represent anybody but themselves. If I find the guy or girl who did this I would welcome them with open arms, to have a conversation with them. If this person wants to come and talk to us about why he did it and how we are not connected to what is happening in Paris or the Middle East.”

“Last thing we want is anybody: my kids, anybody’s kids, Muslims, non-Muslims, doesn’t matter, getting hurt.”

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