Hayden Boyd is a lot like other kids his age. The 7-year-old is in grade 2 and he enjoys T-ball, baseball, and soccer.
But there is something that he likes to do more than those.
“I like to help people – to make them happy,” he said.
For Hayden that means more than just talking about it.
The son of Neil Boyd and Stacey England-Boys got inspired by the Terry Fox Run held at J.D Hogarth school this year – and since the following month was dedicated to fighting cancer, Hayden decided to keep right on going after the Terry Fox event.
He created Coins for Cancers, and started collecting pennies.
England Boyd, said, “Family and friends are a given,” for such donations.
But Hayden did not slow down after collecting from them. He started going around the neighbourhood surrounding Tait Crescent, and kept right on collecting. It was then Hayden’s mom contacted the Cancer Society, which provided Hayden and his brother with “a Hello hat and a name tag” to let people know the collection was a legitimate endeavor.
Then, Hayden, along with younger brother, Hudson, 5, spent an hour at Zehr’s, collecting for cancer.
“He was a big help,” Hayden said of Hudson.
People were generous, too.
The boys now have over $200 to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society. They keep the cash in a green plastic box, which holds the money from their collection boxes. And, starting by collecting pennies, the cash has grown to tens, fives, and lots of loonies and toonies, too.
“He doesn’t want to stop,” said England-Boyd.” He wants to keep going. We’ve only done this area. We may go to the north end of town.”
Hayden added, enthusi-astically, “And Elora.”
He said he would like to reach $1,000 for the Cancer Society, and noted a teacher at school has promised a donation.
His mom said of the two boys, “We’re quite proud of them.”
She also noted that Hayden’s desire to help people goes even beyond cancer.
“When the earthquake hit Haiti, he wanted to give his toys away [to help the victims.”
Plus, she said, “He started collecting milk bags.”
Those bags, which are throw-away in Canadian society, were used by volunteers in Haiti to create sleeping bags for needy children.
