'I saw people outside by themselves': Saskatoon boy helps those in need

A 9-year-old Saskatoon boy is taking on a project to help the city’s homeless. It started out with a lot of work collecting recycled cans and bottles, it has turned into a labour of love.

Helping those in need is not simply something that Leo Orr talks about, he delivers on it. He hands out care packages with his mom to random people who need them.

“We started at the Salvation Army, where we found four people and then we went to The Friendship Inn, where we found nobody. After we went to the drugstore where we found, like, tons of people,” Leo Orr told CTV News.

At only 9-years old, his empathy is impressive and defies age. From about five-years-old, he’s always wanted to help.

“It started because I like giving people stuff, and I saw people outside by themselves,” he said.

“Every time we go out for supper, if he sees somebody sitting outside that looks hungry, he'll save a little bit of his food in a to-go container to give it to them,” mom Emmilie Demeester says.

• Get Saskatoon's top stories delivered to your inbox every weekday morning

Then, he started asking his mom if they can do more.

“He's been asking me for years to do this, but I just don't have the money to go buy all these people food,” she said.

They thought of ways to help, like donating to an organization, and while that was a great idea, it didn’t seem like the best fit for Leo.

“A grassroots project is kind of more his style. He likes to be the one to actually go out and communicate with the people,” Demeester said.

They started by collecting bottles and cans, first asking people they knew, but then turning to Facebook.

“The response was very overwhelming. I had people that I'd never met sending me money, telling me to come pick up bottles and stuff like that,” she said.

Their garage filled up quickly.

“A lot of people gave us bags and we got up to 95 bags then we brought it to SARCAN,” he said.

From that initial request they got $600 and went shopping to fill 50 food bags with things like granola bars and fruit snacks. They also made 50 toiletry bags filled with things like toothbrushes.

(Courtesy: Emmilie Demeester)

Then, they hit the pavement, delivering them to people they see.

Demeester admits this isn’t out of character for her son, as he’s really helpful around the house and even gets her out in the spring to do a trash clean up in the neighbourhood. Even so, this makes her a proud mom.

“A lot of people are commenting how proud they are of Leo for being so little and doing this kind of thing. So that's been really cool to see of my kid.”

 With winter approaching, this grade four student wants to do more. One grocery store is interested in pitching in and Leo’s planning to give a portion of his allowance for a new fund.

“That's what we're going to save up for toques and mitts for winter.”

With that he’ll be warming hearts along the way.

The pair is going to focus on cash donations for the winter and anyone interested in donating or getting more information can email them at [e-mail].