Maryland 7-year-old is helping get essentials to people in need across the U.S.

Cavanaugh Bell is only in the second grade, but he's already doing his part to make the world a kinder place.

The Maryland resident started a nonprofit called Cool & Dope after being told by several organizations that he was too young to be a volunteer. Earlier this year, he used his $600 life savings to make care packages for more than 125 senior citizens in his neighborhood, so they didn't have to risk catching coronavirus at the grocery store. This summer, Bell raised money and held drives to get essentials like hygiene and cleaning products, clothes, diapers, and nonperishable food to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Bell told People he saw Pine Ridge while on a road trip in 2018, after his family drove for "miles and miles and there was straight-up nothing. I was like, 'Well, maybe we should do something for them since they're in the middle of nowhere.'" He dropped off his first load of supplies in July, and is preparing to make another delivery before winter. "I'm just trying to make them have a big fat smile on their faces," Bell said.

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Bell aims to spread positivity, and Alice Phelps, a member of the Pine Ridge community, told People he's doing exactly that. The 7-year-old "believes he can save the world, and I believe him," she said. "He just carries that, 'Well, no problem, let's do it,' and he doesn't see anything as a challenge, so I love that innocence about him." Bell said he wants people to know that they can "have an impact no matter their age — no matter if you're 8, 10, or even my grandma's age, 74 — you can do anything." Catherine Garcia

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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.