KENT, Ohio – Business may be booming on Main Street, but now Amir Spratt is becoming a bit of an entrepreneur himself.
“Excuse me!” the six-year-old bursts out, approaching people walking by. “Would you like to by some candy to feed the poor. It’s one dollar only or you can donate.”
Amir is hoping to make a difference by selling sweet treats to benefit The Love Truck, a faith-based organization that helps the homeless.
So far, Amir has raised nearly $700 of the group’s $10,000 goal. The group has also had weekly carwashes and bake sales to get by. That money will be used to buy a food truck to feed needy families across Northeast Ohio.
However, for now, the group meets every week to feed the homeless – a mission they’ve been able to fulfill for the past year, said Nathan Walden, founder of The Love Truck.
“It’s humungous,” Walden said. “Each week, we keep growing the amount of food that we bring. We’ve fed 40 people the first week. We’ve fed 60 people the next. It’s like, however much we prepare, we end up giving it all away.”
Amir and his mom, Breanna, are often there with the handful of members that prepare food for the families.
He and his mother, however, share a different perspective than most on The Love Truck. Nearly a year ago, the boy and his 22-year-old mom were homeless.
“Nobody has hope at that moment, you know. When you don’t have a home, when you don’t have food,” she said.
Breanna’s car was stolen. When she couldn’t make it to work, she lost her job. They couldn’t make rent and eventually sought help with a shelter in Kent.
“It was pretty tough,” she said. “I was literally at the end of everything and I remember just thinking like, this is like the worst thing possible. I just want to give back.”
The group has touched the lives of hundreds of people, including Tyson Means.
The 50-year-old suffered a serious fall in a construction accident seven years ago. He lost function of his legs, and for the past two months has been wheelchair bound.
The Love Truck team visits Tyson every week at a spot near a railroad track at Grace Park in Akron.
“It’s so different being confined to a wheelchair,” Tyson said. “Can’t move like you used to. Can’t get up and walk.”
But that changed after a recent hour-long prayer session. Tyson gained the strength to stand up.
“He pulled himself out of the wheelchair and locked his knees,” Breanna said. “You’re joyful. You’re like ‘yes, God is real, this is working.’”
And that’s the goal for Breanna and Amir: to spread faith and give back to others in any way they can, even one candy bar at a time.
“We’re here to help the homeless by selling candy, “Amir said. “And I want them to help us and we’ll help them and stuff.”