How a 7-year-old’s stolen scooter turned into a kindness initiative

HERRIMAN, Utah (ABC4) — Seven-year-old Lincoln Neff recognizes many days as “the best day of his life.”

Recently, he’s gone through a bit of a tough loss for a seven-year-old: One of his prized possessions went missing.

“My sweet boy got a scooter for Christmas just a couple months ago,” Lincoln’s mother Nicole Neff said. “I took him to an appointment and we forgot that he had the scooter at school.”

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When the Neffs got back, Lincoln’s beloved scooter was gone.

“I was crying for like maybe the next half-hour of school,” Lincoln said. “I was super sad.”

Nicole posted on Facebook to see if anyone had seen the missing scooter. After that, she received a message from another woman in the Herriman Facebook Community page.

“She sent this message saying that her son had passed away in 2022 and she had a scooter that’s been in the garage ever since and she would like to give it to my son Lincoln because it was time for a kid to enjoy that scooter,” Nicole said.

So, Nicole and Lincoln went to meet the woman. When she gave him the scooter, Lincoln had a message to share with her.

“I felt bad for her,” he said. “I said, ‘I’m sorry about him. I’m sorry about what happened,’ and she said, ‘It’s fine.’”

Now, thanks to an act of kindness from a stranger, Lincoln has a new scooter — and a few new tricks.

“I do know some tricks, like a tailwhip,” he said.

The Neffs are hoping to pay that kindness forward by doing one kind act a day.

“So, we’ve been doing kind acts every single day of April, trying to hopefully make a little bit of influence on our kids to just be kinder and spread goodness,” Nicole said.

A seemingly simple act, bringing a child joy every day with a new used scooter.

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