Mailman's plea sends books to boy who read junk mail

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

With no money for books and not even change to spare for a bus ticket, 12-year-old Mathew Flores turned to the only reading material readily available to him – junk mail.

On Friday, Mathew needed more reading material and decided to ask the mailman if he could have any leftover junk mail, the Deseret News reported.

The mailman, Ron Lynch, was so blown away by the request that he posted on Facebook asking friends, family and acquaintances for book donations for Mathew.

"He told me his wish is to have books to read," Lynch wrote in the post on July 24. "Please share and let's get him tons of reading material! Most kids his age wants electronics. It's great to see his desire, and you should have seen him beam when I said I could help."

The post quickly went viral, and well-wishers from around the world began reaching out to Lynch, who works for the Sandy Post Office, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Before Lynch dropped a first load of books off at Mathew's house, donations had already arrived.

"They said, 'These books are for you,'" Mathew told the Deseret News on Sunday. "I thought they were mistaken, but they were for me."

Mathew told the newspaper that he planned on reading every book and sharing them with others.

"I'm just super happy," he said.

Follow @MaryBowerman on Twitter.