Louisiana brothers Kyllon and Derrell Martin Jr. need our applause. We need to respect these fine young men and their commitment to helping their brothers and sisters.
For around two years 9-year-old Kyllon and 10-year-old Derrell have been making and packing bag lunches for the homeless in New Orleans. Now growing their operation they have started The Helping Lunch Box Project, recruiting family members, with a dream to end the homeless problem in their home city.
Pre-Katrina the mostly Black New Orleans had around 6k homeless, who knows what it is since! But it’s surely a problem, at around 4% it’s one of the highest in the U.S.A.!
The Martin family were one of the 1.3 million displaced by Katrina and they moved onto Alabama in 2006. Returning to New Orleans in 2010 the two brothers wanted to help the community. They were just in the first and third grade.
It started off really grassroots, they went straight to the people who needed the help and then pulled in other family members with their 13-year-old sister designing custom bags and having their mom help with the sandwiches.
Then donations from family and friends dragged in to help with distribution. REAL COMMUNITY WORK!
Their story went viral after being featured in New Orleans’ WDSU on June 13th. Now they have partnered with the New Orleans-based non-profit B.O.S.S. Youth Outreach Program (https://www.facebook.com/BOSSORP).
Now with the growth they can help over 70 people per day to stave off hunger.
That is an amazing achievement!
Atlanta Black Start reported:
Since the viral video, the brothers’ charitable spirit has inspired a man to reconnect with his family. They have also inspired volunteers who want to donate food to those in need. One woman was driving by when the boys were out and decided to donate leftover food to their cause.
“As their parent, I am glad that at such a young age they understand that there are people out here that actually need help,” Kristy Martin praised.
“To see them being so selfless — taking time out of their day when they could be playing with their friends or playing video games — they encourage me to want to do better. So it makes me and dad feel like we have done something right to have such humble kids that think of others first.”
The brothers told ABS that they plan to continue their charity for as long as they can. In addition, they will cement a partnership with Mount Pilgrim Baptist church to increase their food donations when the new school year begins.
src: http://bit.ly/28Wyi4W
HOW AWESOME IS THIS! THESE KIDS ARE INSPIRING!
0 Comments