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Boy gets special gift after sending $3 to President Trump

A 9-year-old boy sent a gift to President Trump. He received a letter of thanks from the White House, and a surprise from complete stranger who heard his story.

A 9-year-old East Tennessee boy who gave his allowance to President Trump is now receiving a blessing in return from a total stranger.

Eli'sha Davies, of Crossville, wrote to the President in January after the inauguration. Eli'sha heard his parents talking about Trump's campaign promise to only accept a salary of $1, and he wanted to make sure the President had enough to pay the bills at the White House.

This week, Eli'sha received a letter back from the President, along with a picture and his three $1 bills returned with a challenge to put it to good use in the community.

Eli'sha has been saving up to buy a mandolin for more than a year, but his mom, Melissa, said it's been tough because Eli'sha is always giving his money away to people who he thinks need it more.

"I remember a couple weeks ago or a month ago, I gave, we went to the mission house, my grandpa and me went to the mission house, and I gave $5," Eli'sha said.

The story spread across the nation once it aired on WBIR. John Wildeman in Punta Gorda, Florida, saw the story on his local NBC affiliate Wednesday morning and knew he wanted to do something to help Eli'sha.

"$3 is a lot of money to a little kid, most kids," Wildeman said. "For him to sacrifice that and send that money to someone who he thought really needed it, that meant an awful lot to me."

Wildeman is the president of the Young Musicians Education Foundation Inc. The charity attempts to help children who wish to play a fretted instrument, but may not be able to afford the lessons or supplies. The one caveat is the children must keep up their grades in school.

The Young Musicians Education Foundation Inc. decided to surprise Eli'sha with a blessing after seeing his generosity to others.


The foundation bought Eli'sha a mandolin of his very own so he can continue to learn and practice.

"I'm like a kid at Christmas when I know we're giving a child an instrument like this," Wildeman said. "It's just a thrill for me to be able to do it."

Eli'sha was thrilled to receive it. He started playing the mandolin at church, but he hasn't had an instrument of his own at home to use for practice.

"I'd like to say that he was really generous to do that for me," Eli'sha added.

Guitar Center in West Knoxville also gave Eli'sha picks, strings, a tuner and a chord chart to compliment his mandolin.

Melissa said about Eli'sha's mandolin skills, "He's just getting better and better, and now he'll be able to practice at home. He's very detailed, so he can just pick it up real fast."

While this story started with a letter of giving to the President, it ends with notes of gratitude as Eli'sha plays his new mandolin.

"He has a lot of thank you letters that maybe we need to find some addresses that we can write out to," Melissa said.

Eli'sha said now he has a lot of practicing to do as he decides how to put his money toward something else.

"Well I just want to be a blessing to everyone," he added.

If you would to help the Young Musicians Education Foundation Inc., contact information is available on its Facebook page.

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