Cards and gifts poured in from all over the world, after a photo of a young girl from Maine sitting alone on her 18th birthday went viral on social media.
When the picture was posted, the girl’s relatives asked people to help make sure her next birthday was different.
“As the days went on, we’d be getting mail from further and further and further away like a ripple effect,” Allyson Seel-Sorenson, the girl’s mother, said. “After today’s delivery, it will put us over 30,000.”
With that many cards, you would never know that last year Hallee Sorenson, who has autism, celebrated her 18th birthday alone.
“Even if you didn’t know what was going on exactly in that picture, I think it would have struck a chord, you know, I think that she just looked so desolate,” her mother said.
The post went viral on social media. Before the family knew it, cards and gifts were being received in the thousands.
“It’s so cool, the stuff and the places that it’s coming from, and the kindness,” Allyson said. “It just touched so many people.”
People wanted Hallee to know this year, the world would be celebrating her birthday with her.
“In a good way, in the best way, it’s overwhelming that all those people took the time to find her a card, get postage on it, write her a sweet note, and mail it from wherever they are” Allyson said. “Despite somebody’s abilities, that everybody deserves to be included. Everybody deserves to be considered.”
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