Ann's Ruralish Life > Putting money where his mouth is

I'm reproducing this article from the Chronicle Herald (Halifax, NS Canada), featured October 28, 2007. They remove their stories from their online servers regularly, and I wanted people to continue to be able to read this article.

Putting money where his mouth is
Meet a little boy with a very big heart
By SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY Staff Reporter
Sun. Oct 28 - 5:22 AM

GIDEON MURRAY is only 6½. But despite his youth, he already knows what one small act of kindness can do to help those less fortunate.

Gideon’s most recent gift from the heart has its origins in a routine tooth-brushing dispute about three weeks ago.

"Gideon had come down(stairs) actually, and I had asked him if he had his teeth brushed and he said no," his mother, Nicole Murray, said Friday.

"And so I sent him up to brush his teeth and I know he was not very happy about having to brush. And he was complaining about it.

"So, like any mom, I said, ‘You should be thankful that you have a toothbrush. Some kids don’t have toothbrushes and they have toothaches every day and their teeth fall out just because they don’t have a toothbrush.’ "

Gideon gave in and brushed his teeth.

A couple of days later, the tender-hearted little boy asked his mother if he could have a jar.

When his mother asked what he wanted it for, he said, "I want to collect money for the poor kids who don’t have any toothbrushes," Ms. Murray said.

Once Gideon had his jar, his mother gave him some change from her purse, he took change from his own bank, and he hit up people at his church, moms on his school playground, family and a few family friends. In all, he collected just over $84.

Once the jar was full, he and his mom rolled the change and he told her he was going to take it to the Canadian Red Cross.

So on Friday, Gideon made a trip to the Red Cross’s Dartmouth office, along with his mom, and made his donation.

The Canadian Red Cross does not have a program to deliver toothbrushes. But it does deliver bed nets free to help prevent the spread of malaria in children under five in Africa.

Once Gideon got to see what the nets look like and heard how they protect children, he did not need persuading. He decided his donation should go to that program.

The nets cost $7 each so Gideon’s $84 donation will buy nets for 12 children.

"Gideon was really pleased about that," Ms. Murray said. "And later on when we came home, I said ‘Gideon, how do you feel about saving 12 people’ and he broke down and cried and said, ‘I’m so happy, I feel like crying.’

"And he didn’t understand why he felt like crying when he was so happy."

Gideon’s donation was timely. The Red Cross is wrapping up a successful weeklong distribution of over 500,000 mosquito nets in Madagascar.

And in December, the organization is embarking on its largest net distribution to date, hand-delivering about 1.8 million nets to families in Mali.

The long-lasting, insecticide-treated mosquito nets form a protective barrier around families at night and kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes on contact.

A child can die of malaria within 24 hours of being bitten by a mosquito.

Malaria is the leading cause of death for children under five in Africa, killing 3,000 children every day, the Red Cross said in a news release.

When asked what he thought his actions will mean to the children who receive the nets, Gideon leaned his head to one side and shyly replied: "I don’t know."

This is the second time Gideon has given to the Red Cross. His first donation came right after hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and other Gulf Coast regions of the United States in 2005.

"He was heartbroken over the kids losing toys," Ms. Murray recalled. "So he took his own money, which was $7, and a little bit of change and took it in to the Red Cross."

News of Gideon’s latest heartwarming donation was sent to Red Cross offices across Canada on Friday.

"It was pretty touching, for sure," said Dan Bedell, a spokesman for the Canadian Red Cross’s Atlantic office in Dartmouth.

"Quite a few comments came back about ‘What a kind of a nice way to end the week.’ It wasn’t quite the usual donation that we get."

Anyone wishing to support this project can donate online at www.malariabites.net or by contacting their local Canadian Red Cross office.

( sborden@herald.ca)

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