8-year-old Kendall Manuel found herself stuck in the house with a lot of time on her hands once her dad was diagnosed with Covid-19. It started with a school assignment that had her making potholders from cotton loops. Her teacher would come by their home to drop off the supplies she needed. Kendall didn’t stop with the assignment and just kept on making the potholders. She has made over 150 of them at a rate of about 3 per day. She told CNYCentral, “I wanted to keep going because they are fun.”
She began to sell them online and started to make a little bit of money. Kendall’s mother figured that she was going to use the profits to purchase a video game console she had her eyes on. But much to her mother’s surprise she donated the money she had made—over $1,300—rather than spend the money on something for herself. She donated the money to Golisano Children’s Hospital and to the Home Stretch Dog Haven in Moravia. Her mom was overcome with emotion and teared up when she heard what she was doing with the money, “When she told me I instantly started crying because I was so proud, at her age I never would have thought of that.” Indeed, how many of us as 8-year-olds would have thought to donate money to a children’s hospital and animal rescue charities?
Kendall is currently still making the potholders and continues to donate her profits rather than keep them for herself. Once word spread about what she was doing the orders just kept on coming in. She also likes to add a personal “Thank You” note with each potholder. She has no plans on stopping even with school picking back up saying, “I love making potholders, so I wanted to keep doing it for other people.”
No one told her what to do with the sudden incoming money she was making, and this 8-year-old took it upon herself to voluntarily donate the money she was making—making lives better for others in her area and setting an amazing example for those around her as well as impressing her very proud parents. A quote from a post from her product’s Facebook page probably sums up this caring child best: “Along with doing her schoolwork and making potholders, Kendall is still doing chores to earn enough money to buy the Nintendo Switch that she gave up so she could donate the money that she has made from Potholders! This 8-year-old is AMAZING!” We really couldn’t say it better our self. It’s a touching story and a shining example of what people, even young children, can do to make the world a little brighter.