Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Zak Ropos presents Gabrielle with a new iPad, an act of kindness noted on the department's Facebook page that has received more than 80,000 likes and 20,000 shares in less than two days.

PAINESVILLE, Ohio — When a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy stopped by a little girl’s lemonade stand on Monday, he had no idea his visit would lead to an act of kindness that would go viral.

Zak Ropos, a 22-year-old deputy in his first year with the department, had heard his supervisors stress the importance of watching for opportunities to show kindness to people while out on patrol. So when he received a call from his sergeant telling him there was “some good lemonade over on Chesapeake Cove,” he headed to a home belonging to the girl, named Gabrielle, and her mother.

“This little girl comes running up to my cruiser and says, ‘I have some lemonade for you,’” Ropos recalled. “So I bought a cup and asked her, ‘So what are you going to do with the money?’ She says, ‘I want to buy an iPad. My mommy said if I get one I can play video games on it and do homework.’ I found out at that point, she’d made about $12.”

The girl’s story stayed with Ropos during the rest of his shift. After leaving work, he went home and tested an older model iPad, but couldn’t get it to work. So he headed to a local Best Buy, where he spoke with the store manager and made arrangements to purchase a new iPad for Gabrielle.

The next day, he called Gabrielle’s mother and asked if he could stop by. When he arrived, he asked Gabrielle how her business was doing.

“She hadn’t made much more after I left, and she told me, ‘Well, Mommy needed some money to put in her gas tank, so I gave it to her.’” Ropos said. “It just melted my heart at that point. I told her what a strong and courageous girl I think she is, and how great it is that she was so willing to work for something she wants.”

Handing her the new iPad, Ropos told Gabrielle, “I want you to have this.”

“She wouldn’t stop hugging me,” he said. “And her mom was in tears.”

Ropes’ sergeant took a picture, and Chief Deputy Frank Leonbruno posted the image, along with an appreciative note, on the department’s Facebook page. Less than 24 hours later, the post had drawn nearly 3 million views, according to Sheriff Daniel Dunlap, and as of Wednesday afternoon, had been shared more than 21,000 times and had nearly 83,000 likes.

“There’s so much negative publicity out there about law enforcement right now,” Dunlap said. “One of the things we talk about when we swear deputies in is there’s many opportunities out there for kindness. He took it well above and beyond, and we’re thankful for him doing that. It’s created a lot of positive buzz for sure.”

Dunlap’s office has fielded calls from news outlets including the Today show, Fox News and others. He said that, though the public’s response has been positive and overwhelming, it’s not the first time his deputies have reached out to help people they’re sworn to protect. One officer, he said, gave $200 to a destitute family; two other deputies recently bought a bicycle for a boy who had no transportation to soccer practice.

“There’s a lot of the public who really support their police department,” Dunlap said. “Community relations aren’t about just throwing a block party and handing out candy. It’s more than a job to us. It’s about how our men and women treat their customers every day.”

For his part, Ropos said Gabrielle is the one who deserves the attention.

“Gabby’s the true hero here,” he said. “When I think about how she’s willing to give her mom her lemonade money to put in her gas tank…it’s just amazing to me.

“I hope that if anything positive comes out of this, it’s that people realize that when you see someone who’s a little less fortunate, if you can help them out, you just do it,” he added, “because you don’t know what’s going on in their life.”