A 6-year-old in South Carolina gave up money he had been saving to visit Disney World to buy food for people evacuating from Hurricane Dorian.
After hearing about the hurricane barreling toward his state, Jermaine Bell, who will turn 7 years old Sunday, decided he had a loftier goal for his money than himself.
“The people that are traveling to go to places, I wanted them to have some food to eat, so they can enjoy the ride to the place that they’re going to stay at,” Bell told WBTW 13. “I wanted to be generous and live to give.”
The young philanthropist took his savings and used it to buy hot dogs, buns, chips, and water bottles for people fleeing the coast of South Carolina and driving through his town of Allendale. Bell stood along a highway in the town of about 3,500 with handmade signs advertising the free food and drink.
Bell served almost 100 evacuees, offering both food and prayers.
Bell’s grandmother, Aretha Grant, was on hand to help hand out food and said that she became emotional watching her grandson’s generosity and concern for those passing through.
“He actually even prayed for a family while they were here in reference to their house being okay when they got back, so that was really tear dropping,” Grant said.
But Bell’s dream of going to Disney World isn’t entirely dashed. He said he hopes to visit Florida soon and “go [to] Animal Kingdom and see lots of lions and have a Lion King party.”
Forecast tracks for Dorian, which is now a Category 2 storm, have moved it closer to the coast of the Carolinas than predicted a few days ago. Although the hurricane has weakened since pummeling the Bahamas, it is still causing concerns of flooding and storm surges for parts of the Eastern Seaboard. The entire coast of South Carolina is under evacuation orders.
