Monte Scott is just 12-years old, but he already has the character and determination to do something about an issue that needs to be addressed.
A Facebook video of the young boy has gone viral since it was posted last week, showing him taking dirt that he carted from his own back yard in a garbage can to fill up potholes in his Muskegon Heights neighborhood.
For Monte, the issue is simple. He saw too many potholes on Maffett Street near his home, and he didn’t want people messing up their cars navigating the damaged streets.
“I didn’t want people messing up their cars
And Monte didn’t even bother to tell anyone about his plan, he just did it.
“I was at work, and I got a text message from my niece, and she’d seen the video on Facebook,” Trinell Scott told the news station.
“He just took it upon himself to [fix the road],” Trinell Scott said. “That’s just the type of kid he is. When he sees there’s a problem or a need, and he thinks he can fix it, he’ll try to fix it.”
In the video, stunned adults could be heard commenting on Monte’s work ethic as he takes the dirt to fill up a large pothole to even out the street.
“This little boy is out here fixing the streets,” a woman’s voice could be heard saying. “He really got a garbage can filling these potholes. Because his granny drive down this street.”
“You’re gonna be something too, you’re a hard worker,” the man in the vehicle with her added.
According to WZZM13, Monte has already filled up about 15 potholes near his family’s home, and he hopes to finish up the street and “keep helping the community out.”
“Now people see that we in Muskegon Heights… do produce good kids,” his mother said. “Everything is not bad out of Muskegon Heights.”
Muskegon Heights Mayor Kimberley Sims told the Detroit Free Press that she was inspired by Monte’s hard work, although it was bittersweet as “the problem is so bad that he feels he has to do that.”
“We have a constant issue of potholes,” Sims acknowledged. “I commend the young man’s efforts. He’s 12, he should be getting ready for school the next day, or playing video games.”
Sims told the Free Press that the city passed its first street millage a few years ago and levied taxes to help improve the roads but noted that “our overall funding system is broke.”
Still, she added that if revenue sharing in the state could increase, then communities like Muskegon Heights would be able to get the help they need to help improve the area for all residents.