12-year-old saves his grandmother from foreclosure

[Hum]

A tween do-gooder turns the focus of his charitable "Dream Catcher Network" to a cause that's awfully close to home

Noah Lamaide is not your average 12-year-old. Since he was 9, the Wisconsin boy has been active in community service, largely inspired by his grandmother, Janice Sparhawk, who has served as a foster parent to hundreds of local children. When foreclosure threatened his grandmother's century-old house recently, the young altruist leapt into action. Here, a short guide to this unusual story:

What exactly happened ?

After taking out a 2010 loan to put a new roof on her circa 1900 home, Janice Sparhawk, 72, fell behind on the mortgage payments. Eye surgery and complications from asthma forced Sparhawk out of work, making it more difficult for her to pay back what she owed. Her home, which had been in the family for three generations, was slated for auction on Feb. 15, 2012.

And her grandson came to the rescue ?

He sure did. With his mother's help, Noah had previously set up a website, Noah's Dream Catcher Network, to promote his various charity projects. On Jan. 5, the boy refocused the site to raise money to save his grandmother's home. "My Grandma, in case you don't know her, has a heart of gold," he wrote on the site. "If I have 400 friends give $25.00 I can give her her home back for Valentines Day!!!" Donations poured in from all over the country, and within a month, Noah had raised $10,500. On Monday, he signed checks over to the local bank, allowing Sparhawk to stay in her historic house.

And Noah has a history of charity ?

Yes. When he was 9, Noah's mother challenged him to do one community service project each year. Rather than just completing a few hours of volunteer work here and there, Noah focused his efforts on raising money for food banks, or sending a family friend with cancer on vacation. Some years, Noah even gave up his birthday presents so he could make contributions of his own.

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[Charisma Veteran]

What a great kid :) A modern saint, that.

[Roger H. Veteran]

(Y) (Y) - can't say nothing else about that! :yes:

[ybrett23]

top man :)

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

I wish more children would act like that rather than destroying things lol.

[Navan]

Wow.

[Ryster]

Lol, he didn't actually pay that money himself you know... he just wrote a blog post that asked others to :)

A good deed for sure, but a "saint"?

[Lexcyn]

Kids/people like this restore some of my faith in humanity. Good job kid!

[firey]

Well if he were canadian, he wouldn't have any issue getting his 40 hours of community service.

In Canada all highschool students have to do atleast 40 hours of community service work to graduate highschool.

[Shahrad]

You know the kid will be getting places when at that age he can put himself behind others who needs him more. Great job and like previous, Faith really does go back into humanity with people like this growing up inside it, GJ Grandma and hope you enjoy his gift cos Im sure we all enjoy reading that :)

[DocM]

This kids off to a great start :)

[Astra.Xtreme]

I may just have to drive up to Stevens Point and shake this kid's hand. He deserves to do well in life. :yes:

[FMH]

Most would've ignored him, thinking he's a spam! Glad, they made it.

Attaboy!