Charity by the Bushel
Jenalea Myers, The Ottawa Herald
Monday, October 6, 2008
BALDWIN CITY
Caleb Powelson, 12, believes his faith can change the world — one bushel at a time.
Caleb, a sixth-grader at Wellsville Middle School who lives in rural Baldwin City, is the grandson of Darrell and Suzanne Johnson of Reading. He recently started his own charity, a charity that reaches out to farmers across the United States.
“I laid in bed reading my Bible, thinking about my dad’s farming,” he said of the moment his idea was born, an idea that became the Bushels of Love Foundation.
After a typical Sunday in church, Caleb brought home a pamphlet to sponsor a child in Africa; however, his family quickly pointed out that it would take a long time to raise the money to sponsor the child.
Refusing to give up, Caleb began thinking on a smaller scale and came up with his foundation. Now, farmers can donate bushels of grain to elevators and co-ops that have the foundation set up.
“If every farmer gives one bushel to the foundation, we could change the world,” Caleb said.
For Caleb’s mother, Melissa Powelson, the interest in the foundation across the nation has been overwhelming. Starting with about 30, the foundation has grown to include more than 150 elevators and about the same number that soon will be set up. “I’m still in awe as a parent,” she said. “We need everyone else’s help to do it. It could really be a great thing, and it starts in Kansas.”
Powelson said elevators have the option of paying for the bushels they’ve collected each month or at the end of harvest. While most of the participating elevators and co-ops are in Kansas, she said the foundation is growing throughout other states.
Caleb has a lofty goal for the number of bushels he’d like the foundation to collect.
“Millions ... maybe billions,” he said, smiling.
So far, Caleb said he’s just grateful for the help he has received, especially with a donation that paid for the foundation to become a non-profit organization recognized by the IRS.
“I know that God is helping me through this,” he said. “If He didn’t, I couldn’t make it through.”
For more information on the foundation, the charity soon will launch its Web site at www.bushelsoflovefoundation.com, or e-mail to bushelsoflovefoundation@yahoo.com.