Nova Scotia boy starts project to create care kits for the homeless

An 11 year old from Brookside, N.S., has been busy collecting recyclables and donations to raise money so he can put together care kits for the homeless before the temperature dips.

Adam Graves was, in part, inspired by a classmate who raised more than $1,000 to give to food banks when he was in Grade 3. However, Graves wanted to see his fundraising efforts have an impact on individuals you can see in the community.

That's why along with each kit, he's including a personalized message that'll say something along the lines of "Have a nice day." Graves's classmates have helped him create 80 personalized messages.

Assembling kits costs $15

"I appreciate it much more if somebody gives me something personal, rather than giving it to a whole bunch of people. It just makes me feel like there's somebody there for me," said Graves.

The kits include things like tuques, mitts, socks and toiletries.

Graves says each kit costs about $15 to put together and his original goal was to put together 10 kits. However, he's managed to raise $685 already, so he's going to be able to put together many more kits than that.

Graves's mother is not surprised by his initiative. She said her son has always had a big heart and a "softness for the underdog."

She said that if a classmate is going through something difficult at school, Graves will tell her about it when he comes home.

"It really bothers him when someone's not feeling good about things," said Melanson.

Melanson, who works in downtown Halifax, said that when the family takes trip into Halifax, Graves is saddened by seeing homeless people and asks his parents for money to give to them.

Lots of bottle sorting leads to a sore back

When Graves first started the project, he collected about five bags of recyclables from neighbours.

On a recent Saturday, a bottle drive yielded about 30 bags of bottles. Graves and a friend then spent three hours on the family's front lawn sorting through them, netting about $120, while leaving the kids with sore backs.

Melanson also started an email account, halifaxkidscare@gmail.com, to help with the effort.

Graves thinks the campaign could be replicated in other cities.

Hopes for expansion

"I actually entirely disagree with the fact that kids are too busy with school to think of anything like this ... I do hope this spreads to a lot of other kids," he said.

He thinks email accounts could be set up for other communities that have the name of the community, then "kidscare" to copy the format of the email address he's using to set up a similar initiative.

Melanson is proud of her son and fully supports the effort.

"When your kid tells you that he wants to make a difference and he thinks he can make a difference, you're going to do whatever you can to support him," she said.

The plan is to hand out the kits at soup kitchens at meal time, as well as to keep some in the family vehicle so that if they see a homeless person out on the street, they can give it to them.