Paul gets a new bike

Every now and again, we need a reminder that everything is going to be OK as long as there are people like Paul Pyykkonen and Todd Sandberg who walk among us.

Sandberg met Pyykkonen during one of his trips to the Menard’s in Buffalo, Minn.

Pyykkonen was a twin born in Liberia. His parents chose him to be the one to die, the Star Tribune says, and so he was starved, causing brain damage by the time he was adopted by missionaries from Minnesota. He can’t read; he slurs his words. And the people around Buffalo love him.

“The community loves Paul so much for the guy he is and how he lives his life,” said Sandberg. “It could be 100 degrees or 10 below and a driving blizzard and he’s out there pushing carts with a smile,” Sandberg said. “You’ll never meet anyone like him.”

His bike that he uses to get to and from work was on its last wheels. So Sandberg organized an online campaign to raise $500 to replace it for him. It raised $24,615 by this morning.

He’s getting a new bike.

“We kick the dirt because someone has taken our parking spot, and here’s this guy who has every right to be frustrated, and yet he lightens your day,” another customer, Ted Salonek of Montrose, tells the Strib.