Good News for Acushnet Teen Whose Firewood Was Stolen
Earlier this week, we told you about Matthew DeBarros and his plan to earn enough money to buy himself a new dirt bike.
Matthew is only 14 years old, but that isn't stopping him from hustling. The boy works for his father's millwork company and saw an opportunity to make even more money.
For the past year, as trees were cleared for the home his family is building on Hathaway Road in Acushnet, Matthew has been collecting the logs, splitting them and selling them roadside.
Matthew stacked the logs at the top of the lot and implemented the honor system for payment at $10 per bin. Everything was going well for Matthew until last weekend, when he discovered that someone had completely cleared out his stack of wood and didn't leave a penny in the jar.
Enter Scott Graves and his wife, Stephanie. They both read the Fun 107 article and were disgusted.
The couple owns SouthCoast Junk Removal.
"We work hard every day," Scott said. "If people didn't pay us and left us high and dry, it would not be rewarding."
Scott and Stephanie admired Matthew's work ethic and were fearful that having this bad experience might sour him and leave the wrong message.
"You've got all these kids playing video games, and here you have a kid that's willing to put in the extra hard work to get the things he wants. I'd hate for him to get discouraged because of one bad apple."
The couple decided to pick up the tab for all of the wood that was stolen over the weekend, a total of $200.
Matthew's father, Eric DeBarros, says the boy was shocked when he heard the news.
"We weren't expecting to get anything out of it, we just wanted (the wood stealing) to stop."
Anyone interested in buying Matthew's seasoned, split firewood can visit 49 Hathaway Road in Acushnet.