Port St. Lucie boy on the autism spectrum just wants friends to show up at his birthday party. Community shows boy he doesn’t need to be alone on his birthday

A Port St. Lucie boy says all he wants for his birthday is a friend. His mother said he has Asperger’s and has been bullied at school. Now, she’s working with a non-profit to ensure people show up at a big birthday bash!

WPTV asked the child, William Morales, what his biggest wish for his birthday party was, and he responded, “That I could at least make a friend I guess because I really don’t have any,”

Those are hard words for anyone to hear.

“Not a lot of people at my school like me,” he said.

I told him I thought he was pretty cool and I’d only known him a few minutes. “Yeah, I guess,” he said.

This week marks his 13th birthday.

“Never been invited to a birthday party,” said Tricia Morales, his mom. “The last one he had, he was little and one person showed up. So, we only had birthdays as a family because I wouldn’t handle the look on his face.”

His mother said the daily questions asking if he’s weird are hard to handle.

“As a mother, it breaks your heart because there is not much you can do,” she said.

That’s where Crowdfunnit came in, offering to throw a party for him. The national non-profit says they do this for lonely kids around the country, often on the autism spectrum.

“We found by having an event it raises… the awareness and at the same time lets a child celebrate the birthday. It’s a proactive way of handling bullying,” said Lisa Geng with Crowdfunnit.

The result? 400 people in his Florida community showed up for his birthday.

And just one day of celebrating seems to have already made a difference on William’s outlook on life. His mother, Tricia, told People.com, “A week before, William was begging me to not make him go to school. The following week after the party when I picked him up after school, he had a smile on his face—he told me he had a good day and he met nice people.”

Thanks to Crowdfunnit and his community, William will be partying for a long time to come.