Buy an Xbox or help save an animal?

Young Jayden Lussier and his brother Alan decided they would rather help save a dog or cat.

ALAN AND JAYDEN DELIVERING THEIR DONATION

The two Red Lake Reservation community members, ages eight and seven, brought their savings jar with $30.93 into Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue’s October community spay/neuter/vaccination clinic. The brothers had been saving their money to buy a Sony Xbox game system, but had a change of heart and decided to donate the money to help animals. This was our best clinic donation ever!

JAYDEN

We shared the story on our Facebook page, and within hours, an amazing thing happened. One of the 20,000 FB viewers, Kevin Smith, contacted RLRR with an offer. He wanted to reward the boys’ generous act of kindness and buy them their own Xbox system.

ALAN

Kevin had volunteered as an addiction counselor on the reservation, so he was familiar with the community. He knew that the boys’ unselfish act was especially significant, because the reservation has a very high poverty level.

KEVIN AND LARRY

There was another reason Kevin was so touched by Jayden and Alan’s donation. Several years ago, Kevin struggled with depression. He and his wife adopted a rez dog, Larry, a cute black and white terrier mix. Kevin says that “With Larry here, I’ve returned to feeling joyful more often than not and look forward to what adventures are waiting for us once we walk out the door. That’s the power of his companionship.”

“It’s clear that without individuals like Jayden and Alan supporting rescue work, I wouldn’t have Larry, and that would be a shame,” Kevin said. He was reminded that all the good in the world starts with someone, in this case, two boys only seven and eight years-old.

On October 20th, just 10 days after donating their savings, Jayden, Alan, and their mother arrived at Red Lake Rosie’s shelter. Jayden and Alan toured the shelter and met some of the rescued animals and then, much to their surprise, Karen Good and Jo Tallchief, president of the RLRR board, presented the boys with Kevin’s gift. They were overjoyed!

A HUGE thank you to Jayden, Alan, and Kevin. You are all examples of true generosity of spirit!