12-year-old boy reads junk mail, mailman helps him get books through Facebook

SANDY, UTAH -- A mailman is going above and beyond to help a 12-year-old boy foster his love of reading.

Ron Lynch was delivering mail for the Sandy Post Office in Utah when he met Mathew Flores. According to KRTK-TV, the 12-year-old was reading junk mail.

"A young man was standing here reading junk mail," Lynch said to KRTK-TV. "Asked me if I had any extra."

"I just usually read the newspapers," Mathew said.

Then, Lynch discovered why Mathew reads newspapers - he didn't have any books.

"I asked him about going to the library, and he said he couldn't afford the bus pass," Lynch told KTRK-TV.

And that confession from Mathew struck a chord with Lynch.

"You know, I started reading at a very, very early age," Lynch said. "My mother instilled reading books in me...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."

So in order to help Mathew, Lynch took to Facebook. He asked his friends to send the boy books.

Lynch wrote in part, "I was given many books as a child, and it's time to help someone else. Please share and let's get him tons of reading material! Most kids his age want electronics! It's great to see his desire, and you should have seen him beam when I said I could help!"

The post has since gone viral.

Lynch says that he's heard from people in the UK, Australia, and India.

Also, people have gone to Mathew's home to bring him books.

"They said these are books for you, and I thought they were mistaken," Mathew said to KTRK-TV. "But they were for me."

Lynch even delivered more books to Mathew personally recently.

And Mathew is even more excited and eager to read.

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

He also wants to share the newly acquired books with other children.