While his peers are saving up for a Wii, hanging out at the mall, or maybe texting their friends, Zachary Bonner is drawing the attention of Presidents, rock stars and Hollywood — by making a difference for the 1.3 million homeless children living in the US.
Some kids walk to school. Some kids walk for fun. This summer, Zachary Bonner, 12, is walking 2500 miles across America to raise money and awareness for homeless children.
His journey began on March 23 in Tampa (at right) and is expected to end Sept. 14 when he steps onto the Santa Monica Pier in California accompanied by scores of homeless kids.
"He enjoys making other children happy," says his mom. But it's a little more complicated—and impressive—than that.
Bonner's to-do list reads something like this: Start a charity? Check. Raise hundreds of thousands of dollars? Check. Be the subject of a Hollywood biopic? Check. And do this all before most kids have taken middle school algebra? Why, of course, check.
When Tonic caught up with him on July 28, Bonner had just walked 15 miles to Phoenix in 100-degree heat, with a chest cold. Each day, he and his 44-year-old mom, Laurie, usually get up at 3:30 am. to start walking together by 5 to avoid the flaming heat, and usually manage to log 20 to 25 miles before they finish for the day. "We joke that it's 90 by 9. Today it was like 97 by 10," says Zach. "Of course, the last couple of days I've been sick. It's harder to walk when you're sick."
It all started with a hurricane and a little red wagon — specifically, Hurricane Charley in 2004, which hit his home state of Florida pretty hard; and his Radio Flyer wagon, which the then 6-year-old took around to collect donations of water and supplies for families left homeless by the storm. With his mother's help, he turned in the donations at a collection and distribution center, and the media, which caught wind of his contributions, dubbed him "the little red wagon boy." So when he decided to continue his missions of helping youngsters displaced by natural disaster or the economy and inspiring other kids to make a difference, Zach settled on the name the Little Red Wagon Foundation. "We decided to name it the Little Red Wagon Foundation because the name fit with what we were doing. A little red wagon is a symbol of childhood and we’re trying to help kids," says Zach.
For most kids, a little red wagon is a plaything. For this 12 year old, it's the cart that holds his hopes for good in the world — specifically for homeless children.
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Source Information:
Tonic
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