Virginia Tech cornerback Antone Exum showed us what the Christmas spirit is all about.
The junior second-team All-ACC cornerback is preparing for his team’s Russell Athletic Bowl game against Rutgers on Friday. His team took a Christmas Eve trip to a local Best Buy where each player was given a $470 gift card to spend in the store. Instead of buying gifts for himself, Exum decided to spend the money on a few kids he saw in the store.
“Spent my $470 Dollar Best Buy Gift Card From The Bowl Game on These Three Kids I Met from Bahamas I Met In The Store!! Made Their Christmas!!” Exum wrote on his Instagram account.
According to The Roanoke Times, Exum had some headphones picked out for himself and friends before deciding to use the money on the kids instead.
“It was really all wants,” Exum said of the items he was thinking of buying. “It wasn’t anything that I needed or anything, so I just put it back and tried to help some kids out.”
Exum says he came across the kids when they were playing a demo version of PlayStation 3. He offered to take them on a shopping spree. The kids were apparently in disbelief, and kept asking him if they really could pick out whatever they wanted.
The kids — two brothers from Florida and a cousin visiting from the Bahamas — ended up with a PlayStation 3, some controllers for the system, some PS3 games, and a Blackberry. The items totaled more than $500, so a few of Exum’s teammates chipped in to help cover the cost.
Why did Exum decide to use his money on some strangers?
“It just came down to at the end of the day, I was blessed to have a lot of fortunate Christmases when I was a kid,” Exum told The Roanoke Times. “So I hope that every kid deserves to have those perfect Christmases.
“So when I had the chance, I wanted to give those kids the chance to shop in my cart and get anything they wanted and hopefully it’s a Christmas that they won’t forget. And I know that it was a Christmas that I won’t forget because I won’t forget those smiles and the excitement on their faces when I told them they could get whatever they wanted in the store.”
What a fantastic gesture by Exum. Can you believe he is only 21 years old and putting the happiness of others ahead of himself? Exum has already graduated from Virginia Tech. It’s safe to say the finance major sure knows how to put his money to good use.
Photo credit: Antone Exum/Instagram
