TAMPA, Fla. — A video posted on social media inspired a Sarasota realtor so much, she invited a California family to the Tampa Bay area because she was so moved by their story.

Molly Whalen said it all started when she was on her cell phone scrolling through TikTok. She spotted a video of 9-year-old Grayson Roberts. Since then, several other videos were posted, including one where famed Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker showed up to his lemonade stand to play drums with him.

It’s the touching story Whalen says she never knew she needed to hear.

“I commented something like, ‘I’m ugly crying at work right now.’ And I said if you ever want to come and see the best beach in America,” Whalen said.

For Whalen, learning Grayson was raising money through his lemonade stand was one thing. But what really hit home for her was when she found out the 9-year-old is losing the little vision he has left, and he’s using the money raised to see the world while he still can.

“I’m nowhere near Grayson’s situation, but I’ve had three eye surgeries, so I’m legally blind in one eye. And so it really kind of touched me that at 9 years old and 32 surgeries and five cornea transplants, I can’t imagine,” Whalen said.

She may not be able to see the world through his eyes, but thanks to that comment she left on the video with an offer to host Grayson and his family in Sarasota, she’s now helping him see all of what Tampa Bay has to offer.

It started with an Airbnb she rented for Grayson and his family.

With the help of his mother, Terica, Grayson got a chance to take it all in. Something he explained is different for a kid like him.

“There’s different types of blind people. Like, there’s blind people that can see and some that can’t see at all,” Grayson explained. “I can still see a little bit.”

His mom explained in more technical terms.

“He has glaucoma, he has aniridia,” she said. “He has several things going on. He has no iris, he has cataracts that have been removed, the lenses have been removed. So he has a lot of different things going on that make it difficult for him to see. He has a little bit of vision depending on the contrast and lighting.”

But that’s not stopping him, and what he can see, he will see. And what better place to start than the famous Siesta Key Beach?

Whether it’s being able to shovel sand and build sandcastles on Siesta Key or travel to other places on his bucket list, Grayson is going to do it. And Whalen is making sure he’s going to do it with help from the Bay area.

This Sunday, once he’s dried off and out of the sand, there’s a huge lemonade stand in Sarasota planned to raise money so that Grayson can keep seeing the world.

In addition to that fundraiser, Whalen also arranged for Grayson to go to Kennedy Space Center, and to take a boat ride and a small plane ride to see the coast. Most of it is a surprise.

The fundraiser is this Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Turner Park at Skye Ranch, 9185 Little Dipper Lane, Sarasota, Fla. There will be fun for kids and, of course, lemonade.