Forest Heights Student Holds Blanket Drive for the Homeless
By: Brittney Johnson, KARK 4 News
Updated: December 7, 2012
A Little Rock middle school student is trading in his Christmas wish list to help the homeless, working to keep people warm all winter long.
While many kids his age are thinking about what they're getting under the tree this Christmas, 11-year-old Jeremiah Williams is focused on how much he can give.
It started with a few simple questions.
"What is the average temperature of Arkansas?," Williams says he typed the question into a search engine.
Or how many homeless people live here?
The answers troubled the Forest Heights sixth grader and sent him searching for solutions.
"1,778 homeless people," he said.
For his school service project, Williams started "We Got You Covered."
"I'm going to give blankets to the homeless so they can be warm," he says. "I don't want them to have hypothermia."
After his classmates voted his project number one, he set up shop in the hallway.
His service-minded spirit is inspiring his classmates and making his mentors proud.
"My initial reaction was strictly emotion to see a young kid his age, embracing community service like that, to me it was awesome," says Sgt. Willie Davis, director off the Little Rock Police Department's OK Program.
Jeremiah says he's been spending his own Christmas money to buy blankets for the past few years.
"I wanted to be nice to the poor and give them something instead of me getting something," he says.
Now he's taking it out the community, and so far 23 blankets have been donated.
"I love to see that people donated and they care so much they would give to the poor," Williams says.
He's hoping to collect 100 blankets and turn this simple act into a tradition of giving.
Jeremiah is accepting blankets at Forest Heights Middle School until Dec. 21. He will also have collection box set up at Dunbar Middle School on Saturdays.
He say's he's hoping to inspire people to find their own way to give back.
While many kids his age are thinking about what they're getting under the tree this Christmas, 11-year-old Jeremiah Williams is focused on how much he can give.
It started with a few simple questions.
"What is the average temperature of Arkansas?," Williams says he typed the question into a search engine.
Or how many homeless people live here?
The answers troubled the Forest Heights sixth grader and sent him searching for solutions.
"1,778 homeless people," he said.
For his school service project, Williams started "We Got You Covered."
"I'm going to give blankets to the homeless so they can be warm," he says. "I don't want them to have hypothermia."
After his classmates voted his project number one, he set up shop in the hallway.
His service-minded spirit is inspiring his classmates and making his mentors proud.
"My initial reaction was strictly emotion to see a young kid his age, embracing community service like that, to me it was awesome," says Sgt. Willie Davis, director off the Little Rock Police Department's OK Program.
Jeremiah says he's been spending his own Christmas money to buy blankets for the past few years.
"I wanted to be nice to the poor and give them something instead of me getting something," he says.
Now he's taking it out the community, and so far 23 blankets have been donated.
"I love to see that people donated and they care so much they would give to the poor," Williams says.
He's hoping to collect 100 blankets and turn this simple act into a tradition of giving.
Jeremiah is accepting blankets at Forest Heights Middle School until Dec. 21. He will also have collection box set up at Dunbar Middle School on Saturdays.
He say's he's hoping to inspire people to find their own way to give back.
