8-year-old who wants to end hunger hosts food drive for Trojan Food Pantry

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:13:52 +0000

Tavin Leggate has two goals in life: to end world hunger and to stop homelessness. For the past four years, Tavin, an 8-year-old Springhill Elementary School student and Alexander native, has been making the world a better place by hosting food drives in the summer and coat and blanket drives during the winter. This summer, Tavin held a July 29-30 food drive on behalf of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojan Food Pantry. Tavin brought in a vehicle full of donations Aug. 8 with help from his mother, Shana Leggate, who is pursuing a master’s degree in school counseling at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, and Stephanie Futch-James, a family friend and sociology major at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. After they dropped off the donation, Tavin was so elated he wanted to clap his hands and sing Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy.” “I want to end homelessness and hunger, because I don’t like it. It’s rude,” he said. “People need to donate to help the hungry, so they won’t be hungry anymore.” Tavin received donations from his swim team, neighbors, and even strangers who showed up at his house after seeing the food drive on social media. The donated items included canned vegetables, peanut butter, grape and strawberry jelly, canned meat, rice mixes, spaghetti, tomato sauce, chicken noodle and tomato soups, mixed fruits, and cereal. “We greatly appreciate Tavin for donating to the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Trojan Food Pantry for the second year in a row,” said Betsy Hart, assistant director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Community Connection Center. “It’s so great to see someone so young give back to the community. His donation will serve many students and staff who utilize the services of the pantry every week. He is a great kid and already has the heart of a Trojan.” Shana Leggate said Tavin has held food drives ever since seeing families who needed help after the 2014 tornado in Mayflower, Arkansas. “He’s always had a big heart, and he wants to help people,” Shana Leggate said. “He saw that the food pantry needed donations and asked how he could help.” Tavin was previously a finalist in and appeared on the Today Show. In the upper right photo, Tavin Leggate unloads donations he collected for the Trojan Food Pantry. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

7-year-old hosts food drive for ��Vlog��ýLR Trojan Food Pantry

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:45:30 +0000

With a goal to one day end world hunger and homelessness, 7-year-old Tavin Leggate hosted his third annual summer food drive and donated the proceeds to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Trojan Food Pantry. The idea to host a food drive on behalf of the food pantry came when Tavin learned of the organization’s status. “Tavin was looking at Facebook with me when we came across the post saying the ��Vlog��ýLR food pantry was low and in need of donations,” said Shana Leggate, Tavin’s mom and a ��Vlog��ýLR student. Already planning to do a food drive, Tavin asked his mom if he could donate what he collected to the Trojan Food Pantry. After receiving non-perishable items in his neighborhood and at his swim meet from July 8-10, Tavin was eager to hand over the proceeds. “Tavin and his mom brought their donations to the Community Connection Center Oct. 7 and donated over $600 worth of food,” said Betsy Hart, assistant director of the Community Connection Center. The donated items included canned vegetables, peanut butter, grape and strawberry jelly, canned meat, rice mixes, spaghetti, tomato sauce, chicken noodle and tomato soup, mixed fruits, and cereal.

Tavin and Shana Leggate

“Their donation was huge, and we were beyond appreciative,” Hart said. Tavin’s desire to help others began at the age of 4 after watching the devastation of the on the news with his mom. “After watching the news, he asked what the families were going to do and where they were going to stay,” Leggate said. “I told him that there were shelters, and they could stay with family or in hotels. That night, he was in his closet pulling clothes saying, ‘these people don’t have clothes, so we need to help them and help them get food.’” Tavin has now organized three neighborhood food drives and three coat and blanket drives, his most recent ending Nov. 18. He has also participated in his school’s Heroes-4-Hunger food drive. Besides ��Vlog��ýLR, Tavin has donated his proceeds to the Rice Depot, The Van, and the Arkansas Foodbank. “I was brought up in a way that when you see someone in need, you help however you can,” Leggate said. “I honestly never thought about doing food drives or trying to organize things like this. Tavin was just born with a kind heart.” Thanks to Tavin’s generosity, he has previously been a finalist in Sprout’s Kindest Kid Contest and appeared on the Today Show. “I want to fly to a far away place and ask everyone to do a neighborhood drive,” Tavin said. “If everyone in the world did it, that would definitely end homelessness.” Although it’s a big task, Tavin plans to continue his summer food drives and winter coat and blanket drives until he reaches his goals of ending homelessness and world hunger.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

8-year-old who wants to end hunger hosts food drive for Trojan Food Pantry

7-year-old hosts food drive for ����Vlog��ýLR Trojan Food Pantry

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

7-year-old hosts food drive for ��Vlog��ýLR Trojan Food Pantry