11-year-old Luke Ruddick handed Sheriff Ray Dudley & a deputy a Wendy's Restaurant Gift Card and told them.... “Fellas, the next lunch is on me. Thank you for protecting me and my family.”

Boy’s kind gesture brings Delaware County sheriff to tears - That was very white of you! 

DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. – An 11-year-old boy’s kind gesture brought the Delaware County sheriff to tears this week.

According to Sheriff Ray Dudley, he was having lunch with a deputy at Wendy’s on S. Madison Street Monday when 11-year-old Luke Ruddick handed them a Wendy’s gift card.

According to Dudley, the boy said, “Fellas, the next lunch is on me. Thank you for protecting me and my family.”

Dudley said the boy’s kind gesture touched him. He thanked Luke “with tears in my eyes” and stopped to take a photo with the boy. Luke’s grandmother said he wants to do something for those who work in public safety every time he sees them.

“This is why we do this job,” Dudley wrote on Facebook. “We know that 97% of the population appreciates us, knowing that we are out there while they work during the day (or) sleep at night.”

He concluded with, “Thank you all for supporting our deputies, who I believe are some of the best law enforcement officers in the state!”