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Youngster has holiday spirit for 7th |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 |
Junior Auxiliary of Benton was the lucky recipient of a boy’s good deed.
Ethan Powell, a former Benton resident and son of Lori Beth and Bubba Powell, was celebrating his seventh birthday party with family and friends at Larry’s Pizza in Bryant. The family now resides in Tampa, Fla.
Instead of receiving birthday presents, Ethan asked his friends and family for monetary donations to give to a local charity. The money, $200 in bills and coins, was collected in a large plastic container decorated with stickers by Ethan and his mother.
Ethan said he already “had too much stuff, so instead of presents he wanted to give back,” said Jennifer Tucker, Junior Auxiliary public relations chair.
The Benton organization “was pleasantly surprised to learn that Ethan chose the Junior Auxiliary as his charity of choice to receive monetary donations received at his birthday party,” she said.
The family was in town over the Thanksgiving weekend, Tucker said. Because Ethan is very patriotic, the decorations for the Nov. 24 party included U.S. flags and boxes of Lucky Charms cereal. The cereal also was donated to the Junior Auxiliary, she added.
“Ethan told his mom that the children served by the Junior Auxiliary were lucky and he wanted them to have Lucky Charms,” Tucker said. “He also wanted all of his friends at the party to have a small flag to take home.”
“We were surprised and humbled by Ethan’s generosity,” she said. “This donation means a lot to us. The money raised will help benefit a family we have adopted this year through our Gathering of Dreams service project.”
Each year the Junior Auxiliary adopts a family in need. Often the family has been struck by tragedy or financial hardship and the organization provides necessities such as food, clothing, and medication to that family for a year, Tucker said.
This year the money donated by Ethan will go toward the purchase of Christmas presents and necessities for the children in the adopted family.
“Ethan is a wonderful and generous little boy, and we would like to thank him from the bottom of our hearts,” Tucker said. “His gift will help make Christmas a little brighter for one family.”
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