When an 11-year-old needed friends ‘really bad,’ over 3,000 strangers stepped up

When Shayden Walker went knocking on strangers’ doors this month, the 11-year-old wasn’t raising money for Boy Scouts, selling candy bars to play sports or asking people to sign a petition.

After being bullied in and out of school, Shayden needed friends “really bad” and decided to put in the shoe leather to get some. As the sun beat down and temperatures hit 90 degrees near his home in Amarillo, Tex., he hit door after door after door.

None opened.

Then, Shayden came to the house of Brennan and Angell Ray, both 23. While working as a landscaper, Brennan got a phone alert that someone back at his house had pressed his Ring doorbell. Brennan decided to answer the boy wearing a “Jaws” T-shirt while waving hi to the camera.

“What’s up, man?” he asked, speaking through the app on his phone.