Community rallies around local birthday boy

One Texarkana mother's post about her autistic son's birthday party experience last weekend has gone viral and led to a bigger celebration planned for Thursday.

photo

Allan Castaneda moves the ball downfield during scrimmage play between Gentry and Decatur on Thursday.

"I've been overwhelmed for the last two days by the generosity," said mother Sandra Phillips on Monday.

Phillips posted a photo of her son Levi on Facebook Saturday during his birthday party at Burger King in Nash, Texas.

Levi, a first-grader who turns 7 this week, had hand-delivered several birthday party invitations to classmates, but none of the classmates attended the party. Levi became very upset and it motivated his mom to write the post to promote autism awareness.

"Parents, if your child comes home from school with a party invitation, please take them to the party if at all possible," Phillips wrote. "You don't even have to bring a gift, just show up. If your child says no, I don't want to go because he or she is weird or acts funny, please explain to them that the child may have disabilities they can't see."

As of Monday, the post had more than 400 replies and the community is now rallying around Levi and his family.

"I didn't post it for it to blow up like it did," Phillips said Monday. "I just wanted to spread awareness about autism. He was devastated when no one from school was able to attend the party."

Many in the community reached out to Phillips after reading her post.

A classroom of children made birthday bags for Levi and numerous parents have been in touch.

One Texarkana resident, Jeff Easterling, has organized a second birthday party for Levi.

The meet and greet birthday party for Levi is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the AG Learning Center at the Four States Fairgrounds.

No gifts are required. People are just encouraged to stop by and wish Levi a happy birthday. Birthday and Christmas cards are welcome.

"I told him that a lot of people heard about what happened and they wanted to meet him. I just hope a lot of people will come and bring their children," Phillips said.

Upcoming Events