A young boy's selfless Christmas wish has spurred an entire community into action. The six year old from Airdrie wanted to make the holidays special for less fortunate children by filling hundreds of backpacks with toys. The boy's holiday wish is making the dreams of many other children come true. Stephen McPhee is an autistic six-year-old with big goals. And the team working behind him is even bigger. "He said, 'Do children live on the street, mummy?' and I said, 'Yeah they do,' and he said, 'That's horrible, we have to help them!'" says Nancy McPhee, Stephen's mother. Stephen's idea to help comes in the form of backpacks. Each one filled to the brim. It's a simple gift and it's struck a chord in this community. "I sent a note out to all the parents and said can you please bring items for Stephen's backpacks," says Jan Wregett, Stephen's preschool teacher. "And every day we woud have carloads of items." The McPhee's home became a workshop of sorts as donations for Stephen's backpacks poured in and when it came time to send them off it took an entire bus, some helpful hands, and a little holiday spirit. Within an hour, the windows were filled, the seats piled high, and the bus was on the road headed for Inn from the Cold. Six-year-old Emerald Leask was one of the first to receive Stephen's gift. Her family has been homeless for several months and is overwhelmed with the generosity. “Bless that little six-year-old, this is a great thing,” says Amanda Leask. “What a great idea. There are going to be a lot of very happy kids.” Stephen and his family collected over 260 backpacks but they are not stopping. They hope to make the program bigger next year and will be registering as an official charity group called Stephen's Backpacks. Officials with Inn from the cold tell us 100 children will receive backpacks this holiday season. The remaining 160 will be distributed throughout the year. Sneha Kulkarni, |