(CNN) A civic-minded 12-year-old boy took it upon himself to fill the many potholes plaguing his street.

Monte Scott stepped up after his mother's and grandmother's cars got flat tires on the road in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, his mother, Trinell Payne, told CNN.

"They had a half-day off at school, so he was out for the afternoon," she said. "He took a shovel and a garbage can full of dirt from our garden and started filling the holes."

She said Monte filled 15 to 20 of the roughly 50 potholes on the street in a few hours.

"He went back the next day to fill more," she added.

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