Mikah Frye: Ohio Boy Gets New Console From Microsoft After He Gave Up Xbox One To Help The Homeless

Nine-year-old Mikah Frye stood out in a world many feel is dominated by consumerism during the holiday season, as he gave up a chance to get an Xbox One for Christmas so he could help the less fortunate. As he and his family had gone through financial troubles in the past, he knew how it felt to be in a similar situation, so he chose to buy blankets for the homeless instead of owning one of the two most popular gaming consoles in the market today. But with Microsoft learning of Mikah’s selfless act, the Ashland County, Ohio boy got the very same gift he gave up, among other presents he received with just days to go before Christmas.

Mikah Frye first made the news earlier this month, when he chose to buy blankets for the homeless, rather than receive the Xbox One he had long wanted to get for Christmas. According to Fox 8 Cleveland, the idea came to him when he and his grandmother, Terry Brant, noticed several homeless individuals shivering from the cold while they were out in Ashland. Feeling a desire to lend a helping hand, Mikah wanted to give blankets to these people, but Brant reportedly told her grandson that he had to give up something in return.

“He said, ‘you can buy them a blanket,’ and I said ‘do you want to give up one Christmas gift to get a blanket to give to someone?’ And he said ‘okay’ and when he got home, he later said if the Xbox is $300, and the blankets are $10, then I can buy 30 blankets.”

As noted by Fox 8 Cleveland, Mikah Frye’s decision to give up an Xbox One so that he could provide the homeless with blankets came as no surprise, as he had to deal with the same problems about three years ago. According to his mother, Sara Brown, she and her husband lost their home due to some unspecified financial issues, which led to the family living in a shelter for “just a few weeks” until they found a new home.

All in all, Mikah Frye ended up giving 60 blankets in lieu of the Xbox One he was supposed to get for Christmas. And with word of his generosity reaching both Fox 8 Cleveland and Microsoft, the Xbox One maker made plans to play Santa, and reward Mikah for his actions. According to MS Power User, the boy was invited to his local Microsoft Store, where employees led him to the back and gave him two bags full of presents, including a new Xbox One, just like the one he had previously passed up.

“When they called and told me I was just instantly crying on the phone and I couldn’t believe it,” Terry Brant tearfully said in a new interview with Fox 8 Cleveland.

“What’s harder was not telling him.”

Mikah Frye was with his grandmother in Ashland last week when he noticed people wandering the streets in the cold. https://t.co/PJIPLdAwmc

— CW39 (@CW39Houston) December 7, 2017

Likewise, Mikah was crying tears of joy as he sorted through the items Microsoft had given him, with family members similarly touched by the Redmond, Washington company’s gesture.

While Mikah Frye can look forward to hours of fun playing games on his new Xbox One this holiday season, the blankets that he had donated earlier this month are also going out, just as planned, to the homeless people he had intended to help. The Ashland Church Community Emergency Shelter Services (ACCESS), which is the very same shelter that helped Mikah and his family three years ago, is currently distributing the blankets, each of them with a handwritten note from Mikah that explains why he chose to donate them.