When Gabrielle saw the police officer approach her, she became nervous. She had never gotten in trouble with the law before.
But what happened to her next was something no one expected.
Just An Ordinary Family
Melissa Garcar, her husband, and their two children lived in Lake County, Ohio. They had never crossed paths with law enforcement prior to this incident.
But that all changed when her 9-year-old daughter Gabrielle decided she wanted to set up a lemonade stand to make some cash.
Business Idea
Gabrielle wanted an electronic tablet, but her parents couldn't afford it. So, she took the matter into her own hands and set up a lemonade stand near her grandmother's house.
Melissa and her husband helped their daughter build the stand from the supplies they had at home and made a few jugs of lemonade. Soon, the entire neighborhood got wind of Gabrielle's stand. Then, one day, a police car stopped next to her stand.
Police Officer
An officer stepped out of the car and walked over to Gabrielle and her parents. He asked the little girl how much she charged for a cup of lemonade.
Although the cost for one cup was just 50 cents, the police officer paid $3. He said thank you to Gabrielle and her parents and drove away. Little did the Garcar family know what awaited them...
Zak Ropos
A few hours later, another police patrol car parked next to Gabrielle's lemonade stand. Zak Ropos greeted Gabrielle and her family, and they got to talking.
"I asked her what she wanted to do with the money," the 22-year-old sheriff's deputy recalls. "She said she'd get an iPad to help with school and play games." Zak was so touched by her story that he decided he was going to help her out. What was his plan?
Surprise
The next day, while the Garcas family were watching Gabrielle's older brother play football, they saw a patrol car pull up.
Officer Ropos got out of the car and approached Gabrielle. Then, he pulled something out from his jacket and handed it to her. The little girl screamed in excitement when she realized what it was.
Brand New Tablet
Ropos gifted her a brand new tablet, which he had bought at Best Buy the day before.
“When she told me she gave the money to her mom… that’s when I almost started crying because of how great of a kid she really was,” he explained.
In Shock
“People have helped me out in my life, so it was kind of like a pay-it-forward type thing," Ropos continued.
Melissa couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the officer's gift to her daughter. Her eyes filled with tears as she rushed to hug Ropos.
An Awesome Girl
“The kindness of people — it gets me every single time,” Melissa said about officer Ropos.
“I told him, ‘I just need you to know that you’ve given this gift to a really awesome girl.’ She’s got a huge heart.”
Huge Respect
Officer Ropos wanted Gabrielle to know just how much he respected her persistent work.
"I talked to the little girl, gave her a speech about how courageous and admirable I think her efforts were to save up her money," officer Ropos explained.
Posting It Online
Gabrielle's mother took a few photos of her daughter and the iPad she received from officer Ropos, which the Lake County Sheriff's Department later uploaded on Facebook.
So, how did the public react?
Viral
It didn't take long for the photos to go viral!
The Lake County Sheriff's Department's Facebook post has received over 10,000 comments and shared more than 34,000 times!
Getting Noticed
Soon, the Garcas family began receiving interview invitations from big media outlets, including TODAY.com and Yahoo News.
Officer Ropos, on the other hand, didn't understand why such a simple act had gotten so much attention from the public.
Humble Officer
“I really didn’t want all the media attention,” he explained.
"I just wanted to see the smile on a little girl's face, and that was worth a million dollars to me, so that's why I did it." Ropos also said that he wasn't the first officer in his department who has done something kind for the local people.
Generous People
Ropos said that a lieutenant from the sheriff’s department once donated $200 to a family, while two other deputies got a bike for a boy.
“That’s how it is at Lake County. Everyone is caring here,” he said. “We all give our shirt off our back for people.”