John Hobson of Xenia, Ohio, may be a retired Air Force colonel, but he never stopped serving his community.
The 93-year-old has been filling his golden years with goodness. During the summers, he enjoys working in his son’s garden and living life to the fullest. Recently, he has also been on a mission to help feed hungry mouths.
John loves working with his hands and is known as “Mr. Fix It” to his family. To celebrate Christmas in 2019, he whittled personalized walking sticks for all nine of his grandchildren and their spouses. He even burned each of their names into the individual pieces!
“It’s something to keep him active, to keep his mind active,” his grandson Rob told Fox News. “He’ll just sit out in the shop and my grandfather will whittle the sticks down.”
Back in July, the veteran decided to put his woodworking skills to an even better use! With more people facing food insecurity amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, he knew local pantries would need more support. So he got to work whittling about 100 sticks, each of which takes about a day to make.
He then took to his front yard, where he started selling the sticks for $3 each. His goal was to raise as much money as possible for the Xenia Area Fish Food Pantry – and he has since sold out! Most customers paid more than $3 to support the cause, helping John earn $650 for the food pantry!
“Makes me feel good,” John said.
But the giving didn’t end there! After he sold the last of his sticks, his granddaughter, Jenny Denen, created a GoFundMe account to help him raise over $11,000 to donate! Plus, he’s already working on another batch of sticks to sell.
Way to support and empower your community, John! More families have full bellies thanks to your talent – and more importantly, your kindness.
Share this story to spread his giving spirit and inspire others to support their neighbors.
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