Marvin Phillips was away on a camping trip with his family when he received a call from local police informing him that his house and car had been vandalized with racist graffiti.
Back at home in Tenion, Washington, Phillips’ neighbors decided they weren’t going to stand by idly.
On Saturday, one of the parents from the Tenion Beavers Youth Football and Cheer program posted a call to action on Facebook and received an overwhelming response from neighbors.
“I want the racist cowards to know that we WILL NOT stand for this in our small town,” the post read.
That Sunday, more than two dozen people rallied together to help clean up the mess including local police, medics and the Mayor, Wayne Fournier.
Phillips, a new resident to Tenion and the only family of color in the neighborhood, told ABC News that he is just happy that his children didn’t have to be subjected to the vandalism.
“I didn’t want to have to explain to my kids what the N-word was or what the KKK was all about right now. I didn’t want my kids to look at their friends differently,” he said. “My daughter is a cheerleader and Girl Scout, and I didn’t want her to look at her peers differently.”
“They did a fantastic job. They poured out their spirit and their love. It was unreal. I was overwhelmed,” he said.
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