RANDOLPH COUNTY -- This past spring, 16-year-old Lucas Hunt wanted to make a difference with three words.
"Easter came and signs are still in yards, and Easter left and signs are still in yards. No one would take them down, and we had more and more orders coming in," said Lucas Hunt, Thank You Jesus creator.
All around Asheboro and beyond, "Thank You Jesus" signs are planted in yards and under mailboxes.
"Everyone reads it and they automatically think it, and it's just nice to be able to think about thanking Jesus, and so it covers everything," said Lucas.
The goal this past Easter was to sell 800 signs, but they easily surpassed that.
"It just kept going, and we sold roughly 7,000 signs in about five or six months. And somebody came and said, 'I think we could take this nationwide.' Well, we believed in it, and so it just took on a life of its own," said Carla Hunt, Lucas' mother.
In fact, the signs are now in 22 states. People have bought more than 22,000 signs at $8 apiece. Everything above the costs of making the signs goes into furthering the mission.
"A portion of the money goes to the 'Thank You Jesus' mission, and that money goes to different community organizations that are focused on promoting the gospel in their communities," said Lucas.
And it goes to bringing people together.
"Our family is very involved in it, our church family is very involved in it. It's amazing to me the number of people who come to us to buy signs that then go sell signs, that people have made it their own project, that people have made it their own too," said Carla.
The "Thank You Jesus" mission has a 501 (c)(3) non-profit application pending.