When a dad in Canada posted a Facebook appeal to help his son, he didn’t expect William Shatner to step in and use his star power to help him get a result.
But that’s exactly what happened after Reed Botwright shared a photo Sunday of his son, Everette, with his favorite food ― Kraft’s limited edition “Star Wars” mac and cheese.
“He’s on the autism spectrum and one of his quirks revolves around food,” the dad from British Columbia wrote. “He doesn’t eat much, if anything, at all ... So, when we go through the grocery store and he says, ‘I want to try that,’ we rejoice! And, thanks to the power of marketing, he gravitated towards this Star Wars Kraft Dinner. Now, it’s never a slam dunk once he’s found something as to whether or not he will actually eat it. But he loves this stuff!”
The only issue was that the Botwrights bought as many boxes as they could possibly find, but since the product was a limited edition release, they were down to their last one and couldn’t find any more.
”Do you know where we can find more? We’re desperate! See it in a store? Tell us, and we’ll go there! Have some left over? Send it to us, we’ll pay!” Botwright added.
Folks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter shared, liked and commented on the post. It came across Shatner’s eyes the following day, who tagged Kraft Foods in a tweet.
It didn’t take long for Kraft to respond.
Canada’s CBC News reported that Av Maharaj, Kraft Heinz vice-president of corporate and legal affairs, said the company found 12 cases (144 boxes) of the product in an American warehouse. The company said it would send the boxes to the family for free.
Botwright posted another message on Facebook thanking everyone for their help.
“We just got word that a local grocer is shipping us enough of the limited edition Kraft Dinner that we will be good for the foreseeable future!” he wrote. “So, thank you again to everyone who has scoured their local shops to help out our little man, but we have more than enough to last him until he goes to college!”
Botwright said anyone still wanting to support his family may do so by donating to a local charity that supports individuals and families who have children with special needs.
