Bullied 7-Year-old Boy Spreads Love and Positivity During Pandemic

• Cavanaugh Bell wants to spread hope, love, and positivity in spite of being bullied.
• He started with care packages for his elderly neighbors during Covid-19 from his own savings.
• Bell is part Native American and has donated to South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with funds from Amazon Wish List and GoFundMe pages.

People respond to bullying in different ways.  Some try to get even or internalize the pain, while others take it as a challenge and focus on turning it into something positive and doing something for others.

7-year-old boy Cavanaugh Bell, of Gaithersburg, Maryland did that— used bullying to fuel his passion to help others.

As Bell explained in his GoFundMe page, “After I was bullied and I felt a darkness inside of me, I knew I didn’t want other kids to feel the same way I felt. So, I asked my mom if she could help me spread love and positivity. And, the more I gave back to my community, the more I wanted to keep doing it.”

But even before he was bullied, Bell already had the heart to help by doing his part to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of his own savings, he started putting together and distributing care packages of food and toiletries to his elderly neighbors. In time, it grew into a food pantry with donations pouring in. The location of his pantry is also a donation from a local warehouse.

With the positive response, Bell was even more inspired to spread his message of hope outside his community.  A Mount Rushmore trip in 2018 exposed him to the conditions at the South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Bell said, “My mom explained to me that people live on the reservation, and some didn’t have what they needed to survive. Some of the houses didn’t have electricity or running water.”

By this time, Bell’s GoFundMe and Amazon Wish List pages have been receiving a steady flow of in-person donations enough to fill a 53-foot semi-truck twice with essential supplies.

His mom coordinated with First Families Now director Alice Phelps and told her of Bell’s plans.  To which Phelps said, “He believes he can save the world, and I believe him. He just carries that, ‘Well, no problem, let’s do it,’ and he doesn’t see anything as a challenge, so I love that innocence about him.”

The First Families Now non profit humanitarian organization is aimed at making the lives of families and children on the reservation better.

In July, the first shipment of cleaning supplies and nonperishable food, as well as diapers, clothing, and shoes reached the reservation.  The second shipment in September included blankets and coats for the cold weather.

Bell, who is part Native American said, “It’s just a blessing to be helping them. I’m trying to make sure they have what they need to survive, cause that’s their only land and… they’re [like] my family.”

Bell has also started his own nonprofit organization to combat bullying and spread positivity through acts of kindness called Cool & Dope, which means “considering others’ obstacles in life and dish out positive energy”.

His hope is that 10 years from now, on his 18^th birthday, bullying will be a thing of the past.

Source: Good News Network