The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
Today’s something good is baskets full of smiles.
Luke Flerlage first started volunteering with Alleluia Baskets, a Missouri nonprofit organization that provides Easter baskets to children and seniors in need, when he was 3 years old. He went with his mom to help assemble the baskets 3 years ago and left vowing to collect goodies for the next year’s baskets.
Karen Messler, founder of Alleluia baskets, told KSDK, “He said, ‘I’m going to go home and I’m going to collect more items for you. You need more stuff. We need more people to smile.'”
Luke, now six, has been collecting donations for the baskets ever since. He talks to everyone he knows and gets people to donate. Last year, Luke had a goal of collecting 100 items. He far surpassed that and collected over 1,000 items.
This year, Karen provided Luke with a box truck and, by February, he had filled it with goodies. 12,221 items, to be exact. Luke made a wish list on Amazon and the boxes started arriving on his porch.
Of his volunteer work, Luke said, “I thought it would be nice to help other people.” He continued, “I feel like they’re really happy. I think I’m happy. I’m happy, too.”
Mike, Luke’s dad, said, “He loves people, seeing them happy. He loves this because he gets to do that.”
Alleluia Baskets started out as a project for the 8th graders Karen taught. She founded Alleluia Baskets a few years later. Every basket gets a stuffed animal and then is filled with socks, toiletries, games, toys, art supplies, and a bit of candy.
This year, with Luke’s help, Karen and her army of volunteers filled and delivered 10,681 Easter baskets to children in need in the St. Louis area.
Going out of your way to make people smile is certainly a good thing and something we need more of. Now it’s your turn… Tell me something good!
