AN eight year old is being hailed as the hope for a positive future by the Salvation Army after she chose to follow her big heart and perform an extremely selfless act this Christmas.
However, Kayla George of Barnard Hill Castries made up her mind that she was going to spend her cash tin savings, some of it well earned, on something more important than toys and treats.
It was on her way from a grocery shopping trip with her mother and baby brother that Kayla instantly made up her mind that she wished to give her entire savings away to the homeless.
Her mother mentioned that the Salvation Army would be a better choice as they would use the money in a wiser fashion to feed and clothe the less fortunate.
Without thinking twice, the big hearted eight year old insisted that this was what she wanted to do without a doubt.
On Wednesday, George along with her father and baby brother made their way over to the Salvation Army to hand in the donation.
When asked by The VOICE why she’d chosen to give the money away instead of use it to treat herself with gifts, she said: “I think that the homeless people are more important than presents and they look so sad so I wanted to give them something to make them happy.”
The girl’s father, Robinson George said his daughter has always had a soft spot for the less fortunate. He said she was also extremely generous with everything so he was not at all surprised that she would make such a decision.
He said: “It makes her sad every time she goes walking around in Castries to see people with nothing to eat and begging or with little or no clothes on. She always asks me, ‘Why is nobody taking care of them?’ So she decided that she was going to take it upon herself and whatever little that she had, she was going to give it to them. I think it’s a great initiative and I’m proud of her.”
Lieutenant Monesha Broome of the Salvation Army said with children with hearts like George’s growing into our society, the less fortunate can have hope that there will be help for them in the future.
Lt. Broome said the donation came as a big but pleasant surprise to her and that she is touched by the gesture. She said whilst they are busy tackling corporate sponsors to make donations for the undertakings of Christmas work, donations like George’s made the giving process all the more special.
She said: “Right now I can’t even find the words to say because it is so heart-warming that instead of taking her money that she saved to buy a doll or some toy or clothes or something, she said she’d give it to the homeless.”
Lt. Broome said whilst similar acts from children that age were rare, it was actually the children who in most cases, encourage adults accompanying them to donate small amounts into the Salvation Army’s kettle drive pots all across the island.
She said: “Sometimes the parents are walking away and the children will draw attention to the kettles and so because of the initiative of the child, they would go and put something in the kettle.”
Using the eight year old as an example, Lt. Broome sent out a message to Corporate St. Lucia: “As young as she is at eight years old, she saw it fit to help those who are less fortunate at this time of the year. So if you could take her as an example, then you too can give and support those in St. Lucia that we give a helping hand to.”