‘Never too small’: Lincoln 12-year-old turns scary situation into inspirational movement

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A Lincoln middle schooler is taking a terrifying experience and making the most of it. 

Flynn Rash, 12, is raising money for a local nonprofit while inspiring several other organizations in the process. His message is simple: You’re never too small to make a giant impact.

“I was trying to take a really bad and negative situation and do something good about it,” the seventh grader said.  

Flynn is talking about May 4. He was in recess at Irving Middle School when word got out that a student brought a gun on campus. 

“Everyone who didn’t know what was going on at the time, they all thought they were going to die,” Flynn recalled.

Police and school officials later confirmed the student brought an airsoft gun but had removed the orange tip, making it look real. 

Flynn said it caused panic among his classmates, but he wasn’t afraid.

“But I was really mad” Flynn said. “All these people around me were so scared. It only took one person to do all that.”

But then Flynn remembered a quote from announcements that morning: “If you ever think you’re too small, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.”  

Flynn has taken that quote and run with it.

“Never too small” is now plastered all over shirts and candles he sells on his website.

All the proceeds go toward the Clyde Malone Community Center’s capital campaign to fund its new building.

The center’s executive director, John Goodwin, remembers when Flynn first approached him with this idea.

“He could have done anything after that situation, but he decided to do this,” Goodwin said. “Again, it’s remarkable for someone of that age to do.”  

Local businesses are also chipping in. Little Mountain Print Shoppe is helping Flynn with his shirts, and Wax Buffalo with the candles.

“To see that he turned something that was really negative and sad into something positive, we were like, ‘Heck, yes. How can we support you? We’re all in,'” said Brianne Bayer, the director of brand at Wax Buffalo. 

Flynn’s goal is to raise $100,000 for the Malone Center. But Goodwin said he’s doing way more than that.

“He’s a special young man with great desire and passion,” Goodwin said. “The sky is the limit for what he can do. He can do anything.”  

Flynn hopes he can inspire others around him, even in his own seventh grade class, to always strive to make a greater impact.

“No amount of money, no person, no act of kindness is ever too small to make a difference,” Flynn said. 

Flynn doesn’t have any social media accounts, so he shares all of his products on his mom’s.

So far, he’s raised more than $7,000.