11-year-old Linden girl Honored for Philanthropic Efforts in NYC

By Amanda Chodnicki

LINDEN, Mich. — A mid-Michigan girl is among 12 kids from across the country who were asked to come to New York City to answer the question, “What would you do with $10,000?”.

These kids, including Addisyn Goss of Linden, all have an entrepreneurial spirit and a love for giving back.

At eight years old, Addisyn said she decided she wanted to give back to the homeless.

She said her inspiration was her grandpa, who was a veteran who used to live on the streets.

"He's proud of me and my siblings for what we do,” she said.

But at that age. she needed her mom on board.

"I’m ashamed to admit it now,” Addisyn’s mom said. “But I kept saying, ‘We'll do something. We'll do something,” and we kept kind of pushing it off."

Eventually, she got mom in her corner.

Thanks to donations from family and friends, Addisyn could make about 50 bags full of socks, toiletries and other necessities.

Fast forward three years, Addisyn has so many donations that she has her own office.

She said they're making 400-500 snuggle sacks a month, sending them to shelters across Michigan and sometimes even hand-delivering them.

"They just ran up and gave us hugs and said, 'God bless you',” Addisyn said.

Not only has Addisyn helped others, but she's also inspired others, like her big sister and brother.

"It's really cool to watch,” her sister Sheridan said. “She's younger and doing more than I would've at her age."

Together, the siblings are building outside pantries full of the same items you can find inside one of the snuggle sacks.

"We can't reach everyone with our bags, so we're hoping that with that on the side of the road, they're always seeing it and they know it's there,” Sheridan said.

Addisyn will fly to New York next week to present the pantry idea to the company KIDBOX.

She will then serve for a year on the kids of board of directors and each month she will receive a box of kids clothing that she can donate along with her snuggle sacks.

To help Addisyn and her family give back, click here.

Article/Source: https://nbc25news.com/news/local/11-year-old-linden-girl-honored-for-philanthropic-efforts-in-nyc