Today’s good people are all young people who have found their way into this week’s post by helping others – some in small ways, others in life-saving ways.

Little Things Mean a Lot

18-year-old Sebbie Hall from Lichfield, England, said he just likes to make people smile.  Sebbie started his giving mission when he realized some people lacked the technology to contact friends during the first pandemic lockdown. The selfless teen wanted to donate his iPad to a friend, but his mom Ashley Hall suggested he should help others to buy what they need instead.

It was then that Sebbie, who has physical and learning difficulties, decided to raise money to prevent disabled or vulnerable children from feeling lonely. He has since raised tens of thousands—and counting—by carrying out over 2,000 acts of kindness towards random strangers.

His generosity, which has been hailed by the British Prime Minister, includes handing out flowers, teddies, and even lotto tickets in the street. Sebbie has also set up an arts hub and a foundation to support disabled or vulnerable children. The constant giver has won numerous awards for his initiative and attended a royal carol service at Westminster Abbey in London earlier this month—after an invitation from the Duchess of Cambridge.

Sebbie’s mom Ashley said …

“I’m immensely proud of him. I couldn’t be more proud. The impact of his kindness has been incredible. It’s like this lovely ripple effect going out from him. It’s fabulous. The money’s very important and he’s been able to create real change.”

Teens Caring and Learning

Five-year-old Ryder Killam has had to battle rain, wind, and snow for about 15 minutes every day, using only a patio umbrella as protection as he awaits his school bus each morning.  But after hearing about his problem, a group of local teens, students in Bradford, Rhode Island, got to work and built him his own bus shelter for the bottom of his driveway during their construction lessons.

Ryder was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele and has never been able to walk. He started using a wheelchair when he was two years old and began attending inclusionary preschool Dunn’s Corner Elementary in June 2019. Every day, Ryder had to be pushed 75 feet to the end of the road to wait for his school bus by his parents Tim and Nikea.

In September this year, just when Ryder started kindergarten, Tim decided to put up a patio umbrella at the end of his driveway to provide some shelter from the elements. He said, “The problem is with the wind and fall weather here in New England it really didn’t accomplish much unless it was just a rainy day with no wind, otherwise he still would get wet and not stay warm.”

They decided to reach out to their community to see if anyone had anything that would work to protect Ryder from the elements. Tim, who runs a marine electronics company, said, “I placed a post on Facebook looking to see if one of my friends or one of their connections might have an old bus hut.”

Tim sent Dan McKena, who had been teaching construction technology at Westerly High School for 27 years, an email asking if he’d be interested in this kind of project.

“He responded with an ‘absolutely’ and then he worked with his students to design and build the hut.”

Three of Mr Mckena’s classes worked hard on the project for numerous weeks, learning new skills through YouTube as they created the structure, motivated by the cause and knowing that soon snow would be falling. About $300 worth of wood was donated by Home Depot for the project, but the rest of the materials were purchased by the Kilmans for $600, who were kept updated with photos throughout.

The hut was built 5×8 feet so that it could fit both Ryder and one of his parents or a nurse comfortably, and was finally delivered to the home six weeks later on November 2^nd.

Says Tim …

“We were shocked, it was much bigger than we expected and allows such great access for Ryder and an adult to be with him comfortably. Ryder’s first reaction was ‘Holy Cow!’, he loved it and wants to hang out it in all the time.”

Right Place at the Right Time – TWICE in one day!

Davyon Johnson is just your average 11-year-old kid, one who happened to save the lives of two people in separate situations in a single day a couple of weeks ago.  No biggie, right?  Riiiiiiight … how many 11-year-old kids do you know who know when, and more importantly how, to do the Heimlich maneuver?  Well, young Davyon did know, and he may very well have saved the life of a fellow classmate who was trying to fill his water bottle and trying to loosen the cap with his mouth when the cap slipped into his throat.

That in itself was exemplary and would have earned Davyon a place in this week’s ‘good people’ post, but wait … there’s more!

Later that day after school, Davyon saw a house on fire and ran to help a woman with a walker get out of the home.

“I thought ‘oh, she’s not moving fast enough.’ So I ran across the street and helped her to her truck.”

Representatives of Muskogee Police Department, Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office and Muskogee Public Schools honoured the young hero Tuesday night at the Muskogee Board of Education meeting.

Davyon was named an honorary member of the police and sheriff’s departments. It is an honour that is well-deserved in my book!

I have a couple more ‘good people’, but for this week I wanted to focus on these awesome young people, for they, and others like them, are truly the future of the world!