Following a day of protests, Antonio Gwynn Jr. took to the
streets of his hometown in Buffalo, New York, and started cleaning up the
rubble left behind. The teenager told CNN that he knew that Bailey Avenue in
Buffalo is a place of high transit for workers in the morning, and after seeing
the glass and garbage left behind, he decided to help. He started working on
cleaning the avenue by himself, on Monday, June 1,at 2 a.m., and
when an organized group of neighbors arrived later to help, he had already
cleaned up most of the space.
As more members of the community began to hear about how
Gwynn took action, he started to receive more praise and compensation. Moved by
the teenager's selflessness, Matt Block decided to gift him his 2004 red
Mustang convertible. Block saw that Antonio was seeking car-buying advice in a
Facebook group and decided to offer up his car, which was, coincidentally, also
the same type of car that Gwynn's mother drove before she passed away in 2018.
Following Block's actions, a local businessman, Bob Briceland, heard about the
teen's good deed and decided to grant him a year of free auto insurance
coverage through his agency. Briceland told CNN that he was motivated to reward
the teenager as "we need to get together, our whole city, and show people how
there are so many good people here," he said.
Antonio Gwynn Jr. is an 18-year-old senior in high school
who intended to attend trade school in order to save money for college. After
hearing about his commitment towards community service in his hometown,
Medaille College in Buffalo offered him a full scholarship. He is planning to
study business in the fall, and one of this career goals is to open up a
cleaning business. Gwynn has offered to help others in his hometown on various
occasions, but this is the first time that he received recognition for his
deeds. He enjoys doing community service through Kappa Phi and helping out at
churches. He expressed his gratitude to the community and told CNN that he
"appreciates everything that everyone is doing for him."
