Others have described Lexi Vo as compassionate, quiet and amazing, but she takes issue with another way people might think of her.
“I ain’t young,” said the 9-year-old who will start fourth grade this fall at Silver Star Elementary School.
In some ways, Lexi might seem like a typical fourth-grader, one whose favorite subject is math and who loves playing tetherball. But at 9 years old, Lexi has also shown quite the charitable side, and was recently given a Compassionate Heart Award by Silver Star’s Family Community Resource Center Coordinator Michelle Tribe.
Lexi earned the award after making rubber band bracelets and selling them to family and friends. She raised $134, which she then donated to the resource center’s backpack program. Silver Star Principal Janet Locascio said more than 30 students get their lunch each week from the school’s backpack program through Share. After hearing about Lexi’s donation, an anonymous donor matched it and gave another $134 to the program, Locascio said.
“When you give to others, often times it becomes bigger than you initially expected.” Locascio said. “I almost wanted to cry for (Lexi’s) caring and compassionate heart. She’s quiet, but her act was so huge.”
The idea to raise money for the program came from a conversation one morning when Lexi’s mother, Tami Vo, asked what would happen if she didn’t give Lexi money for lunch.
“It really all started as a joke,” Tami Vo said. “I was playing around with her, and she said there’s a program for kids who don’t have lunch. And then she thought it would be nice to raise money for the program.”
It wasn’t the first time Lexi decided to help others seemingly on a whim. A couple of years ago, Lexi woke up one morning after a sleepover with a friend and asked her mother if they could bake cupcakes and sell them for charity. Lexi, her friend and a sister did just that, and donated the money to a local family being sponsored by a nearby church.
Lexi used kits to make about 15 bracelets, and Tami Vo put up a note on Facebook about them. They let people pay what they wanted for the bracelets and sold out in about two days.
Lexi and her mother were both excited about the generosity of the family and friends who bought bracelets, a generosity Tami Vo has seen in her daughter for a while. Vo said that Lexi used to ask about people holding signs on the side of the road and what their signs said. Vo explained to her daughter why they were out there, and now Lexi always makes her stop and give them something.
“I’ve seen a lot of people who are asking for money because they don’t have food or a house or money to get food,” Lexi said. “It just makes me so sad, and I want to help.”
It’s that kind of thinking followed by action that makes it hard to argue with Lexi when she says she’s not young. Locascio agreed.
“She’s on her way to doing amazing things for herself and her community,” Locascio said. “Children at 8 and 9 haven’t always developed the ability to see the world around them and think of others like Lexi has.”
Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.
