Brandon Stuart, a nine-year-old boy from Thompson, couldn't just sit back and do nothing when a massive earthquake hit near the town of Léogâne in Haiti on Jan. 12. Instead, he decided to use his creativity to think of a way to help the Haitians in their time of crisis.
"I was thinking that maybe some people should go get some food and money and stuff, and lots of medical stuff," the Grade 3 student says. "I just thought that I could help too and bring some stuff to those people."
Stuart pondered how to make an impact on the lives of people in Haiti, and finally decided that he'd take a beloved Christmas tradition and use it to make a difference. With the help of his mom, Natasha Bertrand, Stuart decided to fill shoeboxes with necessary day-to-day supplies for the Haitian people, including bandages, toilet paper, baby oil, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and more. Once he spread the word about what he was doing at Westwood Elementary School, the school Stuart attends, students and teachers both helped out and he was able to gather about 36 shoeboxes in total. Local businesses also donated shoeboxes and helped out with the effort, including the Light of the North Daycare, Wal-Mart, the Interior Inn, and especially Mystery Lake Autobody, who covered the cost of shipping the boxes out. Stuart and Bertrand say they also want to thank Norm and Robyne Hodge, Denise Tucker, Aislyn Carlson, Madison and Fisher Mondor, Claire Dube, Doreen Claire and other anonymous donors.
The shoeboxes were sent to the Mennonite Central Committee, since the Red Cross was only accepting monetary donations. From there the boxes went to Haiti to be distributed to the people Stuart wanted so badly to help.
A lot of attention has been surrounding Stuart since his humanitarian efforts began - including a visit to Mayor Tim Johnston at City Hall where Stuart got to see the city crest and tour the fire department with deputy fire chief of EMS Kane Doran. But that's not the reason Stuart decided to help out. Even now he wants to send well-wishes to children dealing with the after-affects of the disaster that struck Haiti.
"If I could say something to those kids, it would be that it's happened before in some other places - it's happened to other kids too, so they're not alone," he explains. "And if people want to figure out a way to help, look around at anything they've done - at Christmas or something - and look at the places they go every day."
Stuart's mother says she didn't really take her son seriously when he first came up with the idea, but once she saw how dedicated he was to it, she was amazed.
"I thought he was crazy when he came up to me, but to see how proud he is - aside from me being as proud as punch - to see how much pride he can take out of it, something that he's so passionate about, is pretty awesome."
Bertrand's advice to parents would be that if a child has an idea that might not seem realistic at first, run with it and see where it goes - especially when its done to benefit those in need.
