Last summer, when 10-year-old Capri O’Leary was visiting her grandmother Beth Fellows in Meaford, Ont., they read some stories in Breaking Bread about children facing poverty and hunger. That struck a chord in the young girl’s heart.
“I thought we could help a lot of people,” Capri declared. “Grandma said they would use the money to buy food from local farmers, so it helps local farmers and gives people nutritious food.”
Capri, her eight-year-old sister Trinity, and Beth were already planning a garage sale, but she devised the idea to donate part of the proceeds to help children facing hunger around the world. Her grandmother upped the ante, offering to add $10 to every $1 she planned to donate.
“It surprised me that my grandma was going to match the money, and I was excited because it meant we could donate even more money,” says Capri.
When the toys and other household surplus items were set out on tables in her neighbour’s garage, Capri and Trinity managed to raise $215.
“It was fun – I donated a bunch of my toys to help,” Trinity recalls. Telling people at the garage sale where the money would be going was also fun, says Capri. “People were surprised I wasn’t using the money to buy a Barbie doll or something.”
The girls chose to donate half of what they earned to Foodgrains Bank, and true to her word, Beth contributed $1,075, making the total donation $1,182.50.
“One of the things we advocate for [with our children] is that they think about others and care about what type of impact they have in the world,” says David O’Leary. “To see this happening at such a young age is very cool.”
Capri’s desire to help others was recently recognized when she became the youngest recipient of the Doris Ferguson award in Toronto. The award recognizes students who show leadership in social responsibility, social justice, or peace initiatives.
“As a family, we talk about how lucky we are to have a safe home and healthy food on the table, and how others here in Canada and around the world are not as lucky as we are,” says the girls’ mother Melani. “It’s amazing to see how this translates into my daughter’s interest to do something about it.”
This story was originally published in the 2025 summer edition of Breaking Bread.
