A kind-hearted and thoughtful 11-year-old boy, who wanted to do
something to help the homeless cope with the cold this winter, has came
up with a great idea.
Finn Collins, from Whitstable in Kent, was looking
through SVP cold weather packs - known as Vinnie Packs - which his
mother was distributing to the homeless when he noticed that something
was missing.
"I had really dry lips at the time and it was making me really
uncomfortable," he said. "I thought about homeless people who must get
really sore lips as they are outside all the time and decided it would
be nice if the Vinnie Packs had lip balms in them."
Finn started raising funds for the idea and collecting money from
school, from friends, from his local church and he even did a radio
interview to tell people about his idea. He has now collected over £250
and motivated the manufacturers of Blistex to donate 6000 lip balms to
support his mission.
Finn's mum Angela says her son suffers from anxiety because he has
Asperger syndrome. But she says doing this has really boosted his
confidence and helped him realise he can help to change other people's
lives. "I'm a very proud mother", she says.
Vinnie Packs have been produced by volunteers from the charity, the
St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) since 2011. Each pack contains cold
weather essentials including a thermal hat and gloves, socks, a
toothbrush and toothpaste, pen and information sheet. This year 12,000
of the packs will distributed to homeless people across England and
Wales.
SVP organiser Siobhan Garibaldi said what Finn has done is fantastic.
"There's been a lot of doom and gloom in the press recently so to hear a
story of a young lad who of his own volition decided to raise money for
a good cause was very touching." She says his actions show that "with
some determination and a kind heart we can achieve a lot."
Finn hopes to continue his good work and do more fundraising. He has
already made a YouTube video about homelessness. Next on his agenda is
the refugee crisis. He says "it would be really great if other young
people decided to do something to help people in need. It's not
difficult and it's fun."
To donate to Vinnie Packs text: VINP33 and the £[amount] to 70070, or donate online at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/svpvinniepacks