Young Boy Puts His Halloween Treats In Empty Bowl In Toms River: Video

TOMS RIVER, NJ — April Barker said she didn’t give it much of a thought when her son, Landon, told her he had put some of his Halloween candy in an empty bowl while they were trick-or-treating.

Landon Barker and his younger brother, Finley, had gone up to the house by themselves while the adults waited by the street. When he came back, “He said, ‘I put some candy in a bucket because they didn’t have any,” Barker said Wednesday, recounting what happened while they were trick-or-treating in Toms River with friends.

What none of them knew at the time was 7-year-old Landon’s act of kindness had been captured on the Ring doorbell of the home with the empty bowl.

The video, which Jessalyn Cleaver shared on her Facebook page, has garnered thousands of views and has spread well beyond New Jersey; ABC News highlighted Landon’s actions at the end of Tuesday’s "World News Tonight" broadcast.

"I had to share this!!” Cleaver wrote in the Facebook post. “If this is your son he’s amazing and you should be VERY proud!!! We were out trick or treating with friends so I left a bowl of candy out. Unfortunately, By 5 pm it was empty. One kid tried taking the bowl because he was mad that the candy was gone (his dad returned it shortly after). But, THEN, this little boy did this! My heart! Turn your volume up and watch this!"

What Cleaver didn’t know was the little boy was friends with one of her neighbors.

Barker and her family live in Jackson, and were visiting friends just a few doors down from Cleaver in the Toms River cul-de-sac on Sunday to go trick-or-treating. Toms River has a decades-old tradition of trick-or-treating on the day before Halloween because of the Toms River Fire Company's Annual Halloween Parade, which draws hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators and is held on Halloween.

Cleaver shared the video on Facebook on Monday afternoon and it was quickly picked up by the Toms River Police Department. From there it spread like wildfire. Barker’s friend saw it and connected Cleaver with Barker, who in turn shared the video a couple hours later.

“You’re never sure about your kids. Pushing to raise them right. Then you catch them doing this and they show you you’ve been doing a great job,” she wrote.

“I was absolutely astonished,” Barker said Wednesday. ”I couldn't believe the video. He said he didn't need so much candy so he wanted to let other people get candy, too.”

The contact from ABC News floored her.

“I couldn't believe they were going to put it on national news,” Barker said.

The response has been overwhelming. Barker, who runs an internet-based boutique, Come What Mae, said her customers who are in other parts of the country told her they saw the video and the ABC broadcast, as did family members.

The praise for her sons shared by strangers on Cleaver’s video has been just as overwhelming.

“I was sitting there reading the comments with tears streaming down my face,” she said. “It was so nice.”

“The whole mission behind our business is to spread happiness and kindness,” Barker said.

Knowing that message has come through loud and clear at home?

“I couldn’t be more proud,” she said.