'Birthday boy' brings 363 pizzas to La. flood victims

YOUNGSVILLE, La. — The day before Carson Boutte's 9th birthday Saturday, his mom asked what he wanted as a present.

He said he wanted lunch — but not for himself.

"He said, ‘Really, I know all the poor people whose houses flooded, … what I would really like to do is bring them lunch,’ said his mom, Lanie Boutte. "I suggested sandwiches and chips, and he added cookies.”

Later that night, the thought of making maybe 500 lunches herself was overwhelming.

“So my husband suggested pizza,” she said. “I said I would spend $100 since that’s what I was going to spend on Carson’s present. I decided to post it on Facebook in case any of my family wanted to chip in, too.”

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But by Saturday, her message to her family had traveled much further, and people from throughout Youngsville and nearby Lafayette, La., were volunteering to help. Domino's offered a special rate for the food as long as those who wanted to help mentioned her name and paid for the order ahead of time.

“I had no idea it would blow up,” she said. Regional Vice President "John Richards from Domino's matched the first 100 pizzas ordered. ...

"They were really awesome.  Perfect strangers came out to help deliver, and I couldn’t believe it," Lanie Boutte said. "It was unbelievable.:

By the end of Carson's birthday, 363 pizzas were served to flood victims, firefighters and police officers.

“Carson’s thing in life is that he wants to be a soldier, and he loves anyone in a position like that — cops, firemen,” Boutte said. “But he was in disbelief. He couldn’t believe how many pizzas we had.”

When baker Sarah Trosclair saw the post, she thought Carson should be rewarded, too, and offered to decorate a birthday cake that looks like a pizza.

Though the Boutte house was unscathed in south Louisiana's historic flooding — Youngsville's mayor said 12 inches of rain fell on his city of 12,000 in three hours early Aug. 12 — Carson knew what was happening, his mom said.

“He saw me on FaceTime with my sister, as her house was flooding, and he was crying,” Lanie Boutte said. “I told him, ‘It’s OK. … it’s just stuff.’ But he was really upset.”

The Bouttes now are housing her displaced relatives, and Lanie Boutte said she considers her son an inspiration.

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“He was confused because he said this was making him sound like a hero,” she said. “He didn’t understand why what he wanted to do was special. I told him, ‘Carson, you are a hero. Do you know how selfless that is to think of all these other people?’ ”

His mom said Carson has been kindhearted all of his life.

“I am glad he is sharing it with the world," she said. "They can see it like we can.”

Follow Shari Puterman on Twitter: @shariputerman