Xander O’Brien, a Pittsburgh-area eight-year-old, has collected more than 11-hundred cereal boxes for The Bag Brigade, a volunteer program that provides food to students facing food insecurity in Pennsylvania’s Belle Vernon Area School District.
The effort began after his mother, Sarah O’Brien, started volunteering with the organization, which prepares weekly bags of shelf-stable food for more than 200 students during the school year. Xander originally set a goal of collecting 300 cereal boxes, but donations surged after a local television station shared his story and an online wish list.