A teen in Washington state has been helping the homeless in his community by donating thousands of face masks, hand sanitizer and food during the pandemic. In May, Liem Kaplan, 13, created to provide essential supplies to those in need after worrying about homeless people living in tight quarters and not having easy access to soap and water.
With help from his mom, Nancy, Liem started collecting donations of money and items from people, businesses and community groups and distributing it to shelter programs and organizations that help vulnerable populations, like the homeless. So far The GivingHope Project has distributed more than 12-thousand face masks, 2-thousand lunches, 6-thousand peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 4-thousand pairs of socks and 25-hundred bottles of hand sanitizer.
To Liem, it’s pretty simple. He says, “If you see a problem, find a solution and do it.” He says what he does isn’t that hard, explaining that you only need to ask someone what they need and if you don’t have it, get someone else to help you. “Everyone can do that,” the teen says. ‘You just have to care enough to stop and ask.”
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