Laura, Owen’s mom: “I was very proud to see his little face when people were asking and praising him and he was explaining… the ‘sharing is caring’ concept.”
A big-hearted four-year-old ditched his own birthday gift list to collect food bank donations.
Instead of focusing on the usual fanfare of a party, Irvine’s Owen Walker decided to collect tins and boxes of food from friends and family to make a deposit at North Ayrshire Food Bank last month.
The Bright Beginnings nursery pupil was so touched after his mum Laura explained that not all children are fortunate enough to get hot meals, never mind fancy gifts for their birthdays that he decided to do something about it.
Donating chocolate he’d been given and exchanging cake for cans of food meant that the kind kid could hand over a mountain of vital food supplies to the North Ayrshire Food Bank last week.
This week, Laura praised her thoughtful son:
“It was lovely to see him understanding and being more appreciative of what he has.
“I was very proud to see his little face when people were asking and praising him and he was explaining all about the ‘sharing is caring’ concept to them.
“It came about as his birthday was approaching and I was explaining that some boys and girls didn’t get fancy toys and sometimes their mums and dads struggled to even have hot dinners so he said he wanted to share and help.
“In exchange for a piece of his birthday cake he asked people to give him a food donation.”
Laura added:
“He started getting really into it as the more stuff he gathered the more he wanted to give, even donated some of his own birthday chocolate. Many friends and family were great at donating and supporting him.
“He thinks it’s great as ‘he’s famous for teaching people to share’ and the Food Bank team have said they are going to issue him with a certificate.”
North Ayrshire Food Bank’s lead developer, Craig Crosthwaite, praised the youngster:
“It’s amazing that someone so young can be so socially aware to recognize the needs of those less fortunate than him.
“It’s even more remarkable that he did something about it and gathered the amount of donations he did – we’re entirely grateful to this young man for what he’s done for the food bank.
“It gives you hope for the future when you’ve got young people out there like that – it really was a tremendous act of kindness from Owen.”
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