More than 40 families of strangers went to a 12-year-old boy's birthday party after none of his friends from school showed up

• More than 40 families showed up after a 12-year-old boy's friends flaked on his birthday party.
• Zenas Jett said that she posted on Facebook asking for people to come to the party after no friends showed up.

More than 40 families made up of strangers showed up to a 12-year-old's birthday party in Columbia, South Carolina after all of his friends from school couldn't make it, his parents say.

Jamel Nichols invited everyone in his class to his birthday party earlier this month, but none of the children were able to come to the party, his mother Zenas Jett told WUSA, a CBS affiliate in Washington, DC.

"Unfortunately Jamel's friends at school just bailed on him at the last moment," Jett told the station. "We were going from house to house and I was speaking with parents, and unfortunately, no one was able to attend. So I just thought that I'd reach out to the community, so I made the post on Facebook."

Jett's post on Facebook received more than 100 reactions, according to Jett, who said she then started inviting people who reached out to Jamel's party, which was slime-themed, the outlet reported.

Ashley Berendzen, who brought her children to the party, told the outlet that it was good for her kids to get the experience socializing because one of her sons has autism and her other son was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his "social skills aren't that great."

"Everyone at this party was so friendly and warm and inviting, and a lot of them are from similar situations," Berendzen said.

Jamel told WUSA that he enjoyed the party and was glad he got to make so many new friends.

"Thank you and thank you for supporting me, and for coming out. You could have been somewhere else, you could have been doing what you wanted to do but instead, you came to my party, so thank you," Jamel told the outlet.