8-year-old Virginia boy who helped 18,000 frontline workers, will focus on DC's homeless
ASHBURN, Va. (7News) - He is a young boy with a big heart. Zohaib Begg, 8, has helped tens of thousands of frontline workers during the pandemic.
This month, he’s shifting his focus to the area's needy and homeless community in both Virginia and Washington, D.C.
7News first introduced you to Zohaib at the beginning of the pandemic, after he collected more than 6,000 face masks, caps and gloves from local hotels in Loudoun County to be donated to hospitals.
"Now, I am helping frontline workers in different ways” Zohaib said.
Now that most hospitals have plenty of PPE, he has continued his mission to give back to frontline workers in different ways.
He went from collecting and donating PPE to collecting gift cards.
“Restaurants, hotels, and spas” Zohaib said. "I ask local restaurants if they would like to donate a gift card for hospital workers."
Zohaib says he’s helped 18,000 front line workers since April 2020.
His motto “you can make a difference at any age."
As Global Youth Service Day approaches, he's come up with a personal project to help 1,000 people.
Global Youth Service Day is a campaign of YSA (Youth Service America), an international leader in the youth service movement, mobilizes the millions of young people who improve their communities each day of the year through service. According to YSA, Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world and is celebrated each year in over 100 countries.
On April 24, Zohaib will distribute 1,000 toiletry kits to children and families in need at the DC, Virginia Ronald McDonald house. In addition, he will distribute these kits to DC homeless encampments.
“Since I can’t pack 1,000 socks by myself, a lot of my neighbors are going to help me pack kits” Zohaib explained. The kits contain items like toothpaste, Bombas socks, chap stick, face masks and toothbrushes.
