A 7-year-old boy from Houston used his birthday money to help feed the homeless on Thanksgiving.
Dylan Virtudazo’s birthday party was canceled in August due to the coronavirus pandemic, so he received some cash instead. Initially unsure how to spend it, he came up with the idea when his teachers asked students about their plans for Thanksgiving, as local news outlet KHOU-11 first reported.
“He’s always been like that,” says Dylan’s mother, Nancy Virtudazo
She brought up a time in August when Houston was under a hurricane watch and her son showed her a handful of coins, saying he wanted to give them to the homeless for hurricane supplies after overhearing his parents talk about the supplies they needed for hurricane prep.
During trips to the grocery store, Dylan always makes sure that if he gets candy, his brothers and sisters do, too, even if they don’t come to the store. That selfless attitude is what led Dylan to use his birthday money to create “blessing bags” for the homeless.
Extra donations from educators gave him enough money to pay for 50 of them, KHOU-11 reported.
The “blessing bags” had face masks, hand sanitizer, bar soap, razors, water, lotion, a snack and a note that read, “You matter, God Bless!”
About 4,000 Houston residents are homeless at any given time, and 50% of them lost shelter because of an economic crisis, according to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, citing data from the 2019 Homeless Count & Survey.
They encourage all citizens to become better informed on the issues surrounding homelessness and to take action by advocating, donating, and/or volunteering.
source: foxnews