Mankato teenager volunteers despite living in car
Last summer, Seth MacDonald (pictured above, middle-left) spent his nights sleeping inside a Chevy Impala with his family in Mankato, Minn. He and his dad each took a front seat while his mother curled up in back.
Despite his family falling on hard times, Seth, then 14 years old, managed to volunteer at the Mankato Salvation Army every morning at 7:30 a.m. Among other activities, he prepped and served meals for the Mankato Salvation Army’s free community lunch and Mobile Outreach Meals program.
“Seth helped religiously,” said Leslie Nibbe-Johnson (pictured above, far right), Mankato Salvation Army program coordinator. “He is a kind, giving, outgoing kid.”
Eight months later, and Seth has not stopped volunteering. He helps at the Mankato Salvation Army every time school is off.
“If he doesn’t have school, he’s there,” said Seth’s mother, Jessica MacDonald, adding that the family is now living with a relative. “This is the way we raised him – to try to help people as much as we can, when we can.”
Seth supports The Salvation Army because he knows what it’s like to go without.
“Some kids don’t have things other kids do – I know how they feel,” Seth told KEYC-TV in Mankato. “I didn’t always have everything, so I can relate to some of the people we serve here.”
Jessica is proud of her son, and thankful for the help her family has received from The Salvation Army in the past.
“If we need anything, they have always been there for us,” she said.
Others are proud, too.
“There are not a lot of 15-year-old boys in this community who would roll up their sleeves and help the way that Seth has,” Nibbe-Johnson said. “I am proud of him and his work ethic.”
Not surprisingly, Seth is The Salvation Army Northern Division 2015 Youth Volunteer of the Year. Feeling inspired? Sign up to volunteer yourself.