The 11-year-old started Ethan’s Heart Bags 4 Blessings, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that donates charitable goods to the homeless in Hill’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, and surrounding cities.

Ethan Hill was on his way to school one day in 2016, when he noticed a man living under a freeway overpass. Despite only being 6 years old at the time, Hill was determined to help the man. After school, he began to research ways he could provide aid to the homeless.

A few weeks later, Hill used his Christmas money to buy food, snacks, water, tarps and toiletries to give to the man, who he came to know as Mr. Marcus, as well as others who were also living under the freeway.

“He was so kind, and he found a nice word to give me,” Hill says. “So after that experience, I learned that they are people too and if we can provide some help for them, they can be employed and have a stable living condition.”

Source: Kid of the Year Finalist Ethan Hill, 11, on Helping the Homeless: ‘If You See a Problem, Fix It’