PASSION: When You Give A Kid A Cardboard Box…Caine Monroy

Please welcome new blogger for Digital Family Summit Melissa Brodsky.  Melissa has been blogging since 2006, is a social media consultant and freelance writer, and is the mother of 5 aspiring bloggers/digital content creators.

See below for more information about Melissa.

You never know who it is you’re going to meet or how they are going to transform your life.

Kids love cardboard boxes, they see so much potential within it. When my children were younger, the minute they were given a giant cardboard box they would spend countless hours creating houses, spaceships, cars and anything else their imaginations could come up with. Most parents will agree that the wrappings usually hold our children’s attention more than the actual content. Then throw in some markers and duct tape, the possibilities become endless.

Well, out in East L.A, a 9 year old boy and his love for arcades took the cardboard box house quite a few steps further. An entire game arcade, complete with tickets, passes, a claw and prizes was built over the course of a summer vacation.

Caine Monroy spent his entire summer vacation with his dad over at the family auto-parts store. In order to keep Caine busily entertained so that he could work, his dad George allowed him to transform the entire store-front into a fabulous, working, cardboard box arcade.

When it was complete, Caine opened the doors to the public but no one showed up to play with his creation.

At least, not until a guy who needed a part for his car came meandering into the shop; thus becoming Caine’s first impressed and paying customer.

Caine Monroy in front of his cardboard arcade.

The young gentleman , Nirvan Mullick, who happened upon the arcade became so enamored by the whole genius of it decided to create a surprise Flashmob event on Facebook which eventually got picked up by Reddit which, in turn, became viral. As did the video.

Thousands of people turned up and surprised Caine who, up until that day, only had the one taker for his 500-turn pass to the arcade.  And all of that is captured in the 11 minute video posted above.

If you give a kid a cardboard box it has the potential to unlock a genius invention or a work of art, as in the story of Caine and his cardboard arcade. In my house, all it does is create a mess of ginormous proportions.

Nirvan is now raising money for Caine’s college scholarship fund.  They have raised nearly $97,000 as of yesterday (and it’s climbing fast!)

Find out more about Caine’s Arcade by visiting the film’s website:  http://www.cainesarcade.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Melissa Brodsky has been involved in blogging and social media since 2006.  Melissa is a full-time mom of five aspiring bloggers/digital media creators.  She is a freelance writer social media strategist who has worked with small start up companies as well as some big names.  Melissa has been featured on the Dr. Phil show, WDIV Channel 4, in the Detroit Free Press and various other publications and radio talk shows.