Belong & Contribute
Just being a kid
7-12
'I like helping people': 8-year-old Westland boy raises nearly $2K to restock community food pantry
Photo and reporting by
Click On Detroit
After telling his mom he felt sad for people without food, Wyatt organized a grilled cheese and tomato soup fundraiser with her. They made nearly $1,700 and used it to fill a U-Haul with groceries they delivered to a local food pantry.
The parent picked up a hammer too
His mom Amanda Madden organized the fundraiser with him after their bedtime conversation. She helped him plan it, showed up to cook alongside him, and together they bought the supplies and made the delivery.
Why we picked this one
There's a driveway version of this. One Saturday, a kid notices the food bank's asking for donations. You suggest making grilled cheese and tomato soup for neighbors, set up a card table, charge five bucks. By afternoon you've got sixty dollars and something real happened, because your kid did actual work and actual people came. It's not $1,700, but your kid watched money become food become relief. That's the whole thing.
Wyatt and his mom sold grilled cheese and tomato soup until they'd filled a U-Haul for the food pantry. Set up a lemonade stand this weekend, pick a number you're donating every dime past, and let your kid hand over the cash themselves.
Read the full story at
Click On Detroit
Where it happened:
Westland, Michigan
Your eight-year-old's been asking to help. Is there a food pantry within five miles of you that's ever said what they need?