Charlie and his Christmas blessing bags

Charlie is at it again.

You might remember the six-year-old boy who came to visit me at the end of the school year. He and close family friend Logan had run a lemonade stand and raised more than $400. Charlie also solicited donations and put together dozens of blessing bags that he handed out to homeless men and women around the market.

Earlier this fall, Charlie decided he wanted to do the same thing again at Christmas. Instead of lemonade, he sold hot chocolate. This time he raised more than $300. And he handed out blessing bags again to homeless men and women.

Charlie stopped by my office this morning with Logan, his mother, and his grandparents. It was so nice to see him again and see that wonderful smile.

I asked Charlie if he was looking forward to Christmas and like any little boy, he's anxiously waiting for Santa to make a visit at the end of the week. But it didn't stop Charlie from coming out during his Christmas vacation to help those less fortunate.

Charlie is an inspiration. Thank you so much Charlie.

Charlie makes the local newspaper

Charlie, the special six-year-old boy from Renfrew who donated his lemonade stand money to us, was back in the news last week. His hometown newspaper, the Renfrew Mercury, ran a photo on Page 1 followed by a story on an inside page. Click here for the story.

Charlie, you deserve all the accolades you are getting. With the school year just around the corner, I hope you get a chance to talk to your friends at school about how easy it is to help people who have so little.

And speaking of schools, I know it's not what a lot of people think about on such a hot day, but the start of schools is just a few weeks away. This fall, like past years, we'll be reaching out to the schools. So many students and teachers take the time every year to help us either by holding food drives, making sandwiches or raising money.

We're looking forward this year to visiting as many of you as we can. See you in a couple of months.

Charlie hands out blessings to the homeless

I never get tired of hearing about how people, especially children, decide to help the homeless men and women in our city.

This morning I had the honour of meeting six-year-old Charlie. He's from Renfrew and he came to Ottawa today with his mother and sister.

He had spent last week creating blessing bags. Inside each bag were things like juice, water, food and toothpaste. He also ran a lemonade stand and raised more than $400 which he gave to Shepherds of Good Hope.

Children like Charlie touch my heart. I can't help but think of what a fine person he's growing up to be. I told Charlie that what he did was very special. It's easy to help people you know, but it takes a very special person to help people you don't know, people you will probably never see again.

When I meet children like Charlie, I wonder if they realize how special they are. For them, giving is simple. In this case, Charlie saw a video that sparked the blessing bag idea. He asked his mom if it was okay to put blessing bags together. Today he walked the streets in the downtown looking for homeless people to give the bags to. Later in the afternoon, he went to a trampoline park. Isn't that a great way to spend your day? Help the homeless in the morning, play on a trampoline in the afternoon.

Charlie said handing out the bags made him happy, as it should. Giving always makes you feel better.

Charlie, I hope you have a great summer and I hope to see you again at Shepherds of Good Hope.

If you would like more information on how you can make your own donation to Shepherds of Good Hope, please give me a call at 613-789-8210, Ext. 247 or check out our donate page on our website.