Merry Christmas, Mr. Ken

HIS BADGE READS “NATHANIEL KENDRICKS,” BUT THE CHILDREN AT LAKEWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KNOW THE 78-YEAR-OLD CROSSING GUARD AS “MR. KEN.”

Every school day, hundreds of students and their parents greet “Mr. Ken” warmly as he helps them safely cross the street.

His job isn’t complicated, but Kendricks says he “just enjoys being here and helping everyone across the street and back” — and Lakewood Elementary returns the sentiment. After 14 years as a crossing guard, Kendricks has become a fixture at the school.

During the holidays, the students usually give Kendricks cards, candy and other small tokens of appreciation, he says. But last year something different happened.

Kendricks’ car was repossessed last November, so his wife had to drive him to work from Lancaster every morning and pick him up every night. His wife, Patricia, was healing from a knee replacement and other health ailments, which financially kept the couple from being able to retrieve their much-needed vehicle.

When the dads of Friends of Lakewood (FOL), the “fathers’ organization” at Lakewood Elementary, learned Kendricks had been without a car for more than a month, they decided to scrounge up the funds to give him a holiday surprise.

Originally the plan was to buy Kendricks’ car back, says FOL vice president Chris Prestridge, but they soon learned that wasn’t an option. Instead, they elected to internally collect enough funds to buy him a new car, which they quickly did.

“We started a GoFundMe and only sent it to the dads,” he explains. “We weren’t sure if it was a sensitive subject, so we didn’t want to spread the word around.”

They found a friend who worked in the car industry and told him what they were looking for: a car that was completely ready for daily use and didn’t need any immediate maintenance. They found a good option and bought it, and from there they figured the handoff would be as low-key as the purchase.

“The intent was to keep this completely under the radar,” Prestridge says. “We didn’t want to make a whole production out of it. We planned to basically just go up and hand him the keys, although we did want to have a little fun.”

Kendricks takes his job very seriously and doesn’t let anyone park on the crosswalk.

“He flips out,” Prestridge explains, which made for a perfect set-up.

They planned to park the car on the crosswalk, and when Kendricks inevitably told them to move the car, they’d tell him it was all his. It was sweet, simple and to the point, but when the time came for the handoff to happen, others at the school had heard about the upcoming exchange.

“We drive it around the corner and there’s

I don’t even know how many people. There had to be 30 or 40 people out front with camera-phones,” Prestridge says.

People in the crowd filmed as FOL dad Russell McMillan stopped the car on the crosswalk, and Kendricks played his part perfectly by instructing McMillan to move it.

“Do you want to move it?” McMillan asks, holding out the keys.

“No,” Kendricks said.

“It’s your car,” McMillan told him.

“My car?” Kendricks questioned, clearly confused.

“It’s your car,” McMillan repeated, and the crowd began to cheer.

Kendricks doubled over when he realized what was happening, and the FOL dads patted him on the back and hugged him as he smiled through happy tears.

It didn’t take long before the videos hit the internet and the gesture went viral. From California to New York, people heard about the gift and started sending notes of encouragement and even checks for Kendricks.

“In the end, I’m kind of glad it happened that way,” Prestridge says, explaining that the reaction to the act of kindness was truly inspiring.

“Of course it’s nice to be able to hand someone the keys to a car when they need it. That part was a given,” he says.

“But when you do something you think is small and it resonates with so many people, it puts it in a different perspective. The outpouring of thanks and support from across the country was overwhelming and amazing. I was a changed person for being part of this."

The feeling is mutual. Kendricks says it’s comforting to know he’s part of a community that treats him like family.

“Everyone is so good,” he says, and smiles when he adds that he has thoroughly enjoyed the car.