Inspired to Give

Jan 262010
 
Little Red Wagon Foundation

Little Red Wagon Foundation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Zack Bonner was only 7 when he started the Little Red Wagon foundation to “help kids in distressed situations.”

He began doing community service in 2004, taking his little red wagon door-to-door, collecting fresh water for victims of Hurricane Charlie. In 2005 he started the Little Red Wagon Foundation. As his website says, “five years and lots of successful projects under our belt we are looking towards the future.”

Beliefnet.com voted Zack the Most Inspiring Person of 2009 and, on December 26th, he set off — on foot — from Tallahassee in an effort to become the youngest person to walk across the country. Along his approximately 2,473-mile route to LA, he and his team will visit programs for the homeless, with an eye toward raising both money and awareness on behalf of homeless kids.

According to Dreams for Kids Executive Director Tom Tuohy, children are the fastest growing homeless population.

You can follow Zack and his progress on his website’s “Zack tracker.”

 

Taking Action

Jan 052010
 
Look Right Into My Heart

Look Right Into My Heart (Photo credit: Kat Northern Lights Man)

 

According to the article sent by a friend, seven year old Jonathon Slack cried when he saw a woman holding a sign saying that she and her son had no place to stay. And later that evening he asked his Mom to drive him back into the city so that he could give his $6 to the woman and her son.

The family determined that there might, in fact, be bigger and better ways to help. So young Jonathon organized a ten-day donation drive that resulted in more than four truckloads of food and toys being delivered to the Su Casa Catholic Worker homeless shelter in Chicago.

Aside from the compassion and generosity, there is another reason that I like this story. One of the great building blocks that parents can give their children is the knowledge that, even in the face of an overwhelming problem, there is something that they can do… some action, small or large, that can be taken.

We can complain about world problems and wish that “somebody” would “do something” or we can teach out kids that every bit of kindness and generosity that they can show to others makes a difference.

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