Boy asks postal worker for junk mail to read, is gifted hundreds of books

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NBC News – UTAH (NBC NEWS) - A Utah postal carrier delivered more than mail recently, to a 12-year-old boy who asked for junk mail to read.

Thanks to the power of social media, postal worker Ron Lynch collected shelves full of books for the child to read. This after 12-year-old Matthew Flores told Lynch he reads newspapers and what most consider junk mail because he can't afford a bus pass to get to his local library.

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Lynch recounted the first time he saw Flores reading junk mail.

"A young man was standing here reading junk mail. He asked me if I had any extra. And I asked him about going to the library and he said he couldn't afford the bus pass," Lynch explained as he stood next to the mail boxes at the community where Flores lives.

Lynch found out Matthew reads newspapers because he doesn't have any books, and that made Lynch remember reading as a child.

"You know, I started reading at a very early age. My mother instilled a love for books for me," Lynch explained. "At 12-years-old, he didn't want electronics, he didn't want to sit in front of the TV playing games all day. This kid just wanted to read."

That interaction tugged at his heartstrings, so Lynch posted a picture of Matthew on Facebook, asking his friends to send the boy some books. But his plea went worldwide.

"You know 10, 20, 30 of my friends might give him books. I have heard from the UK, Australia, from India," Lynch said.

Lynch recently made a personal delivery to Matthew, bringing more books to add to his growing collection. Matthew says he wants to read every book.

"It's super fun and it's interesting. Plus it gets you smarter," Matthew said.

He also said he wants to share the books with other children he knows, too. Lynch told a Utah news crew he expects thousands of books will be donated for Matthew before his viral post circles the Internet.