A Kid Hero

“If you could have any three things, what would you want?”

Eleven-year-old Ruby Chitsey loves asking that question, but it’s not a game she plays. She asks the seniors (老年人) at nursing homes in Arkansas where she lives. Even more amazing, she then sets out to make their wishes come true.

Ruby has long been close to the elders. Her mother has worked in nursing homes for many years. Ruby often stays with her in summer and asks the seniors if they need anything.

Last May, Ruby noticed an old lady named Pearl staring (凝视) out a window. She seemed sad. “What are you looking at?” Ruby asked. Pearl said she was watching her dog being led away by his new owner. Ruby asked around and discovered that the nursing home didn’t allow the seniors to have dogs and Pearl couldn’t afford to pay anyone to look after her dog. Ruby also heard many stories about Pearl’s friends there and found that they were unable to afford life costs. That was when she decided to do something about it.

She started by asking the seniors what three things they wanted most in the world. Her mother worried that people would ask for cars and other things that an 11-year-old wouldn’t be able to provide. Instead, they asked for chocolate, fries, and even just pants that fit properly.

“I felt really upset,” Ruby says. “We left the nursing home that day and went straight to a store and bought as many things as we could.”

Using their own money, Ruby and her mother helped about 100 people in three months. Then, they started asking for donations (捐款). The good people in Arkansas strongly supported them, so Ruby and her mother set up a GoFundMe page—Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents. After GoFundMe named Ruby a Kid Hero and spread her story internationally, Three Wishes raised more than $250,000 in five months. One of Ruby’s new goals is to set up a shared computer in one nursing home in each state.

Ruby doesn’t plan to stop there. “I consider kindness to be my hobby,” she says, “and I’m very good at it.”

What do you do with the things you love? 【小题1】 That’s not what Cameron Payne does. This fifth grader from North Carolina is sharing his love of books by giving them away.

In 2008, Cameron was looking for a way to help Iris community when he heard about a family who lost everything in a house fire. He was sad that all of their books were destroyed, and he wanted to find a way to help them. 【小题2】 Cameron collects books for young people of all ages and reading levels. He collects books for kids who are blind or low vision, too, because he wants everyone to have books.

【小题3】 They do this by helping kids dream about what they might be when they grow up. 【小题4】

Cameron wants to keep his program going and growing. Over the past seven years, he has given away more than 3,000 books. He has also won many prizes for his work. His program has grown over the years, too. Last Christmas, Cameron was even able to give away toys and clothes. 【小题5】 Who needs help in your community? How might you help?

Have you ever gotten stung（蛰）by a bee? Well, for 18-year-old Mikaila Ulmer from the US, her first bee sting at the age of 4 was a special experience. It inspired her to make a difference and turned her into an entrepreneur.

The bee sting scared Mikaila,   ★   . She soon learned how important bees are for the planet and how they are at risk of dying out.

At not even 5 years old, Mikaila wanted to do something to help save the bees. With her parents’ help, she set up a lemonade stand in her front yard. She used her grandmother’s homemade lemonade recipe and added a little bit of honey to it. The money from every lemonade she sold went to bee protection groups.

But Mikaila wanted to do more. She made her special recipe into a product, called Me and the Bees Lemonade. At the age of 10, she went on a TV show with her dad to try to get funding and public attention. It worked. Now, more than 10 years since her first lemonade, she sells five different drink products available at many restaurants and stores across the country.

In 2020, Mikaila brought out a book about her experience as an entrepreneur called Bee Fearless, Dream Like a Kid. As she explained to CNBC, “I always say that it’s important to dream like a kid, and as a kid, it’s the perfect age to start figuring out what you enjoy and trying new things and taking risks.”