A little child shall lead them - Youngsters dedicate their summer to charity work

Mandeville, Manchester:

When Lloni Jones and Sheldon Williams are not busy with school and extracurricular activities in Montego Bay and Clarendon, respectively, they can be found, during the summer break, feeding street people, reading with the children at the Friends in Need Safe Home, changing diapers and helping anyone they can in any way they can.

“I like helping the street people. I give them food and sometimes I give out encouraging cards that I make with pictures and Bible verses. I started this at age eight and I love it. So far, I have given back to children and the street people, but I love helping the street people most of all,” stated Lloni Jones.

Jones said her heart goes out to the people she sees on the streets more than any other beneficiary of her volunteerism.

“The saddest part for me is knowing that when we leave them, they (homeless) will have to stay on the streets, and they don’t really have much stuff, and so it is hard for me because I can’t help them the way I would want to.”

The aspiring doctor says in addition to feeding them, prayer for their safety is the only other act of kindness she can afford.

She also expressed her wish for every child who has been bullied to find a way to get through it.

“I have experienced bullying and it is not something I liked. I spoke up about it and I got some advice. I also watched a lot of bullying skits and I found out how to stand up to a bully. I want every person being bullied to find a way to rise above it.”

Jones, who says she is a Christian, revealed that it is because of the foundation that has been laid ( by her family) why she is able to give of herself so freely to the service of others.

“It is not as hard as people may think it is to give back. I am encouraging everyone who has the ability to help someone else to do so.”

Much like Jones, Sheldon Williams, who lives and attends school in Clarendon, comes to Manchester during the summer to the Friends in Need Safe Home, where he spends his break taking care of the little babies there.

“I feed the street people, but I love taking care of the babies, playing with them and reading stories to them. It is a lot of fun for me. I have siblings, but they are older so I never had the opportunity to read to them, so I do it with these little ones.”

Williams, who lost his mother, added that he takes his love of volunteerism even to his school, where he gives of his time to the 7th graders who have difficulties with reading.

“When I see the condition of children who aren’t really privileged, I feel I would just build a big house for them … but I don’t have the money,” lamented the selfless young man.

Williams, who will be heading to third form in September, says he is a top boy at his school, always vying for the position along with his best friend for first place in his classes, but lives to help others the best way he knows how.

familyandreligion@gleanerjm.com