11-Year old local hosting annual ‘Winter for the Homeless’ drive

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - An 11-year old Bowling Green native is working hard to help homeless people in need this winter.

Marleigh Riley is currently hosting her 2nd annual ‘Winter for the Homeless’ drive. She’s collecting monetary donations and perishable items to make her very own homeless kits. They consist of food, water, mittens, and more. After the kits are created, she gives them away to those in need. With the help of her mom, Autumn, she budgets her spending carefully so she can maximize funds and resources to help the most people.

WBKO News spoke with them directly to gather more details on their acts of kindness. “People might feel more lonely at this time of the year so we’re just trying to help them not really feel lonely and just feel like they have somebody that they can trust and give them food and like warm stuff,” Marleigh said. “We really think that it’s important for other people to understand that anybody could be in need at any point in time and we would hope that someone would help us. So it makes me extremely proud that she cares about other people and also, it’s really fun to see how it inspires other people,” Autumn later added.

Last year, she provided 12 care packages to people in their community. If you or someone you know could use help provided by her homeless drive you can contact them by emailing helpbghomeless@gmail.com.

If you’re interested in making a donation you can learn more by clicking here. Donations will be accepted until December 1st, 2021 at 12pm central time.

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