7-Year-Old Maryland Boy Is Delivering Care Packages To The Elderly Shut In By Coronavirus
(WJZ/CNN) -- Cavanaugh Bell is a 7-year-old on a mission: "To help other people and let them know that I got their back," he told CNN.
At a time when senior citizens must stay in to avoid the coronavirus, the spirited boy in Gaithersburg, Maryland, decided to make them care packages.
"The packages include toilet paper, some flushable wipes, hygiene products and a bunch of food," he said.
'She's my best friend'
The idea came when Bell realized his 74-year-old grandmother is in a high-risk age group for coronavirus.
"One day I was thinking about my grandma and I was like 'Oh, mommy she shouldn't be going out to the grocery store because it's coronavirus season. She's my best friend.' "
After helping his grandma, the boy with the big smile and bigger heart looked at his grandmother's neighbors at her senior citizen home -- and worried.
"He was so heartbroken that he didn't have enough to give to everyone," Llacey Simmons, Bell's mom, told CNN.
So Bell used $600 he'd saved up to fund his first batch of care packages.
"I asked him how much money he wanted to use from his savings-- $50 or $100? He's like 'let's use all of it.' "
Bell assembled more than 100 care packages and hot meals to deliver.
"We got stacks ... we got hygeine products, and we got toilet paper," Bell said.
The community joins in
When news spread of the first-grader's good deed, donations began to roll in. He has since started an online campaign to get through what he calls the "coronapocalypse."
It's become more of a community project that way. But only Bell and his mother make the deliveries.
"We aren't allowed to gather in large groups," the supportive mom shared.
And with an overflow of donations, Simmons and Bell have created a community care pantry in Gaithersburg.
"Hopefully we can help a thousand people. We plan to do this until we run out of donations or until the pandemic is over," Simmons said,
"It makes me feel beautiful inside because I like giving back," Bell said.
If you would like to contribute to Bell's community care pantry, you can donate to his GoFundMe account. He has also set up a website with more information here.
And every dollar counts.
"I'm only getting $10 in allowance every week, so I need your help to donate because I'm still taking donations," he said.
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