‘This made my heart smile’: Thousands share photo of Brandon athletes praying at restaurant

BRANDON, Miss. (WLBT) - A photo of student athletes praying at a local Mexican restaurant has taken social media by storm.

The picture was taken by Kimberly Ingram Reed Thursday evening at El Sombrero where the woman and her girls had stopped for dinner.

As they were entering the restaurant, they spotted a group of teenagers wearing Brandon football athletic wear.

“One of them opened the door for us and as we walked in three others that were sitting on a bench got up so we could sit down,” she described in a Facebook post about the experience.

She said that the group of boys were nice and respectful - even thinking to herself how rare it was to see those qualities in teenagers these days.

The group of young men were seated near Reed and her girls, and she noticed that once their food was brought to them they all “removed their hats (if they had one on), and they PRAYED!”

“This spoke to me even more,” she stated. “It was just 15-20 teenager guys, no mamas, no coaches, no girlfriends or any other adults around making them act right. They did it on their own bc they wanted to!!!”

She concluded by saying that she does not know any of the teens’ parents, but, if she did, she would congratulate them on raising their boys the right way.

“With all of the negativity going on in the world right now this made my heart smile and gave me hope for the future!!” Reed wrote.

The photo has now been shared on facebook over 12-thousand times and has received nearly 20-thousand likes, with many commenting on the “powerful” photo.