Boy, 6, collects dozens of sleeping bags for homeless Calgarians
CBC News | Posted: December 22, 2016 6:55 PM | Last Updated: December 22, 2016
'I'm going to find the homeless and I'm going to ask them if they want a sleeping bag'
A six-year-old boy is spending his own savings to collect sleeping bags for Calgary's homeless.
Tate Parker first recognized the need last year after seeing people sleeping outside in Victoria, where his family was living at the time.
"I really wanted to help them because they didn't have houses, they only had tents. So I wanted to help them," he said.
Parker got people to give him new or used sleeping bags by offering a dollar apiece from his piggy bank. On Christmas Eve, he and his family distributed more than 130 bags to homeless people in downtown Victoria.
Neil Parker says his son's determination to help the less fortunate continued after the family moved to Calgary earlier this year.
So far, Tate has collected over 80 sleeping bags and plans to distribute them at the Mustard Seed on Friday.
"I'm going to find the homeless and I'm going to ask them if they want a sleeping bag and if they say yes I'm going to give it to them," he said.
"But if they say no I'm still going to give it to them."
Neil Parker says the experience has left him impressed with the generosity of Calgarians and, of course, super proud of his son.
"I'm probably most surprised with how at ease he is with the homeless community, there's no fear at all. He's respectful and he recognizes that it helps," he said.
- MORE CALGARY NEWS | Man who tied 120 balloons to lawn chair to float over Calgary pleads guilty
- MORE CALGARY NEWS | 'It just doesn't work for us': WestJet on new YYC international terminal