Everyday Hero: Joshua W.
Submitted by Claudia McLean.
Joshua W. believes he was placed in this world for a purpose; a purpose he realized after his grandmother gave him a $20 bill to use however he wanted. On his way to church that morning, the 5-year-old began thinking about all the things he could buy with the money. Peering out the car window, Joshua noticed a homeless man standing on the street corner. That moment seemingly changed his life forever. Joshua knew immediately that he had to give the man his $20 bill in the hope that it would make a small difference. After completing this gesture, Joshua discovered his life's calling to help the needy.
At just 5 years old, Joshua knew he would need help in order to make his dream a reality. He enlisted his family and soon they were delivering meals to the homeless every Saturday. Joshua began to realize, however, that he needed a "bigger, better and easier way to distribute food." He and his family came up with the idea to have the homeless come to them, and they would distribute bags of groceries from there. On their first distribution day, Joshua and his team of helpers provided over 300 families with food and they continued this method of distributing groceries every month for 2 years.
With the success of his work, Joshua eventually created the Joshua's Heart Foundation to continue his mission of feeding the homeless. Today, six years later, his foundation helps young people with a food backpack program and also provides cooking classes and food to needy families. Each month, Joshua's foundation helps to feed over 60 youth as well as 150 families.
While Joshua's current work focuses on hunger in his Miami community, he hopes to someday help eliminate hunger around the world. "Food is one of the basic necessities of life and it truly breaks my heart to know that children are hungry; it breaks my heart to know that people are hungry," says Joshua. "I want to make a big change. I want others to help me make a big change in hunger. We can do it. We can start small and that small change will eventually make a huge change so that hunger will be no more!"
Joshua truly embodies the value of "making a difference" and that is why The Foundation for a Better Life is proud to honor him as July's Everyday Hero of the Month... Pass it On!
At just 5 years old, Joshua knew he would need help in order to make his dream a reality. He enlisted his family and soon they were delivering meals to the homeless every Saturday. Joshua began to realize, however, that he needed a "bigger, better and easier way to distribute food." He and his family came up with the idea to have the homeless come to them, and they would distribute bags of groceries from there. On their first distribution day, Joshua and his team of helpers provided over 300 families with food and they continued this method of distributing groceries every month for 2 years.
With the success of his work, Joshua eventually created the Joshua's Heart Foundation to continue his mission of feeding the homeless. Today, six years later, his foundation helps young people with a food backpack program and also provides cooking classes and food to needy families. Each month, Joshua's foundation helps to feed over 60 youth as well as 150 families.
While Joshua's current work focuses on hunger in his Miami community, he hopes to someday help eliminate hunger around the world. "Food is one of the basic necessities of life and it truly breaks my heart to know that children are hungry; it breaks my heart to know that people are hungry," says Joshua. "I want to make a big change. I want others to help me make a big change in hunger. We can do it. We can start small and that small change will eventually make a huge change so that hunger will be no more!"
Joshua truly embodies the value of "making a difference" and that is why The Foundation for a Better Life is proud to honor him as July's Everyday Hero of the Month... Pass it On!
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