MEDFORD, Ore. — An eight-year-old boy is taking to the streets to spread the Christmas spirit even after the holiday has ended.
“First I say hi my name is Tucker and then they say their name and then I hand them a bag and we talk a little and then more and more and more,” Tucker Nielson said.
Despite the cold weather, eight-year-old tucker Nielson, dressed as Santa, is pounding the pavement just one day after Christmas.
“He calls it tucker’s kindness project,” Tucker’s Grandmother, Jennifer Joyce said.
But, the idea behind the project came from a painful experience for the eight-year-old.
“Tucker’s autistic and so he was getting bullied at school, and so he doesn’t react well to loud noises in school so some of the kids aren’t patient with that,” Joyce said.
Now that experience is fueling Tucker’s passion to do something good for someone else.
“I got it from being bullied at school, and so I was worried about the homeless that were out there and didn’t have that much food to eat and were so cold,” Tucker said.
Spending days walking around Medford, Tucker is hoping his project makes an impact on Medford’s homeless population. Joyce said she couldn’t be prouder to see her grandson take a negative experience, and turn it into a positive one.
“It really bought him back down where he’s a lot calmer and he’s focusing better in school and not having as many outbursts,” Joyce said.
She says she hopes it will inspire others to join tucker in his project to be just a bit kinder.
“We’re just hoping it gets bigger and he has tons of kids helping him, so I think that’s the other lesson out of it is that it’s just something positive and we just move on,” Joyce said.
Included in every care kit Tucker hands out is something to eat a water bottle and a hat, gloves and socks. Tucker says he hopes they can make people feel cozy during the cold months.
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