CHICAGO — He is a little man on a big mission. At 8-years-old Jahkil Thompson is determined to make life better for Chicago’s homeless.
He was just 5-years-old the first time his aunt took him with her to feed area homeless.
“When I saw how they live, I was and it made me want to help the homeless,” he said.
“We literally will be driving down the street and tears well up in his eyes when someone comes to the car and asks for money,” his mother Na-Tae’ Thompson said. “And he says, ‘Mom we have to help them.’”
And help is coming, in Jahkil’s “Blessing Bags.”
Plastic bags are filled with toiletries and a wash cloth. Jahkil and his family organize the bags and then deliver to them to homeless across the city.
Jahkil started his Blessing Bags program at the start of the year. To date they’ve delivered 500. They want to hit 1000 by the end of summer.
T-shirt sales and online donations to Jahkil’s webpage help fund his bags, as does the generosity of others. Recently, the Heartland Alliance helped get him the things he needs and made him a junior ambassador.
“When he started doing the bags I just noticed him take charge,” his mother said. “And I just stood back in awe. This little boy is really trying to run something here.”
Jahkil fits helping the homeless in between other activities like basketball, tap and break dancing. He also speaks to other young people and encourages others to give back when they can..
“Usually homeless don’t have anybody to help them,” Jahkil said.
But they have found a longtime supporter in this pint sized philanthropist.
More information at:
https://www.heartlandalliance.org/
Reference:
http://wgntv.com/2016/06/24/pintsized-philanthropist-helping-citys-homeless-one-bag-at-a-time/
