A Rhode Island Business Helped a 10-Year-Old Kid Spread Neighborhood Happiness

Earlier this year, 10-year-old Luke Cook of Warwick, Rhode Island, set up a small box filled with trinkets in his neighborhood that he called a Curiosity Cubby. The idea was for people to leave-a-toy-take-a-toy, much like Little Free Library boxes do with books.

When Justin Czar — the owner of Liberty Fence Company — learned about Luke’s project and saw how excited the community was about it, he reached out with an offer to expand. Justin and a group of his employees installed a new, bigger, Curiosity Cubby with built-in shelves — and a fancy painted sign.

Luke is thrilled to see the new version of his project. “I thought it would be small forever,” said Luke. “But a lot of people came and it grew a lot. Everyone can come, everyone can take a trinket, leave a trinket. If you don’t have one, you can still take it.”

Justin is also happy to be impacting the community — and giving Luke a special boost. “It was great. My wife and I, wherever we can help out we do. Starting your own business can be a challenging thing, but finding time to spread some joy … it makes you feel better too,” said Justin. “I’m happy we could make him happy and now he’s spreading that happiness throughout the community, and it’s really cool to have that attitude as a child to be honest with you.”