MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. — It was Kason Johnson’s eighth birthday. As he was walking with his mother to the family car, he suffered an all-too-common accident many people experience around his age: he lost his balloons. Up and away they went, flying from the town of Mountain Grove, Missouri, never to be seen by Kason again.

Kason is a second-grader at Mountain Grove Elementary. On Oct. 16, he celebrated his eighth birthday. While he was at school, he received balloons and snacks to celebrate.

Around 500 miles away, a man in Cleveland, Tennessee, was mowing his yard when he noticed balloons stuck in his fence. They were attached to an envelope that contained the business the balloons came from and Kason’s school’s name. He used that information to send hand-made gifts created in his woodshop to Kason and his teacher, as well as $100.

The man, whose name is Todd Huyler, sent a photo of him and his Dachshund Henry, as well as a note addressed to Kason’s parents. In it, he wrote that mowing his yard is his quiet time when he reflects on the past week and how he can bless people that God puts in his path. That’s when he saw the balloons. He was surprised when he opened the envelope.

“Truly a message in a bottle,” Huyler wrote in the letter he sent to Kason’s parents. “The simple gesture of a family showing love and appreciation to their 2nd grader with a gift of surprise humbly impacted me beyond belief. How amazingly fortunate Kason is to have a family that will make the effort to show unselfish love.”