Autistic Teen Gives Peanut Butter As Furlough Aid In Dumfries

WOODBRIDGE, VA—An area teenager with a proclivity toward peanut butter has, through a series of serendipitous events, turned that love into a public service. Say hello to Eric "Bean" McKay, 15, who on Wednesday went to a Dumfries grocery store and gave away jars of free peanut better to workers affected by the federal government shutdown.

His dad is a furloughed government worker, and that's one of the reasons for his desire to do something. The peanut butter was his to give, too, inasmuch that it was part of a lifetime supply of the stuff pledged to him by the international grocer Lidl, where the giveaway took place. But why peanut butter? And how did he get it?

McKay has autism, and many with the condition zero in on certain foods as their absolute favorites. His is peanut better—rather, as his mom, Tracy McKay, told the Washington Post, peanut butter and jelly with two English muffins three times a day. At the Lidl grand opening, his mom bought 72 jars at a special reduced price.

After going through those, according to a release, he took to Twitter last October and displayed the 72 empty jars. Lidl responded to the tweet, gave him another 72 jars and "upped the ante," by challenging him to get 72,000 retweets for a lifetime supply of peanut butter.

He reached the goal last week and then decided he wanted to donate some of his "winnings." He ran his idea past Lidl, via Twitter, and the company readily agreed to help him. After all, his lifetime supply actually was a credit-card style voucher good for free peanut butter forever.

All of which led to the giveaway inside the Lidl at 16601 Dumfries Road. During it, "Bean" told WRC TV, "It's easy and it makes people happy."

Images, photos used with permission from Lidl