From mowing lawns to handing out gift cards, this 4th grader goes out of his way to help others

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published 11 August 2020

Greyson Winfield aims to help every single person in his community who needs some assistance, whether it's a first responder or single mom who is too busy to mow their lawn or someone who can't afford groceries this month.

The 8-year-old fourth-grader from Conway, South Carolina, said he admires President John F. Kennedy, and that's one reason why he does so much to help his neighbors. At the beginning of the pandemic, he worried about how people would take care of their families if they weren't able to work, and this inspired him to launch an organization called Helping Footprint, which raises money to buy gift cards for food or help with bills.

"I want to help people," Winfield told CNN. "There are other people who have nobody to help them and it's the right thing to do." So far, Helping Footprint has distributed gift cards to six families, and Winfield, his brother, and his foster brother have mowed nine lawns. Winfield said when he's an adult, he wants to be a Navy SEAL so he can keep assisting people, adding, "also, JFK was in the Navy before becoming president and I want to follow his lead."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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