MANSFIELD — When Mansfield Christian first grader Jonas Stapleton approached his mother with a big idea last year, she thought it might be “just a phase.”
But more than a year later, Shanna Stapleton’s 7-year-old son still has his heart set on helping the less fortunate by collecting food, clothing and most recently, carts for the homeless to more effectively hold their belongings.
“We’re raising money for about 40 to 60 carts right now,” Shanna said.
“Is that how many we’ll get? 40 or 60?” Jonas asked.
“Well somewhere in between there,” his mother answered.
“Well, why don’t we raise 60?” Jonas said, leaning up against the table and looking towards Shanna.
He’s determined and passionate about his project. When speaking about his ideas, Jonas talks with his hands and sometimes even hops out of his seat, seemingly for dramatic effect.
“We’re going to make a shelter. One big, big shelter one day,” Jonas said, stretching his hands out as far he could reach on either side of him — far enough that his fingertips brushed against his mother’s hair and prompted a stern look.
This idea, Shanna admits, is further down the list, as it would be a “large undertaking.” But Jonas thinks he has it figured out. He’d like a company to build it, so he can offer a place to sleep, take baths and teach the homeless to read, cook, garden and clean their own spaces.
“The stuff that he does come up with just blows me away,” Shanna said.
Jonas’s projects started last year after he started praying for the less fortunate at meal time. Shanna assumed it was something he learned at school. His teachers figured he must have picked it up at home.
“It wasn’t,” Jonas said.
He was certain of himself.
“Well, I know now,” Shanna laughed.
Jonas explained that God was talking to him.
“I just started thinking about other people and God told me to help them,” Jonas said. “I wanted to make them stuff and get them so that they’re not homeless no more.”
This led the Stapleton family on a whirlwind adventure. They made a list of Jonas’s ideas and went on to collect socks and other clothing, distribute bags of hygiene supplies and give out food at Mansfield’s Central Park.
Jonas also visited the city’s homeless shelter, where he high-fived some of the people there.
“In the beginning, it was us just plugging into other organizations because I was new to this … I never thought we’re going to turn this into a nonprofit,” Shanna said. “But at the beginning of this year, we decided we’d take the next step.”
The Stapletons received the news that “Jonas’s Mission” became an approved nonprofit in March, and Shanna intends to work on becoming a 501c3 next.
“He’s still so gung-ho, he still has these set things he wants to do,” Shanna said.
Jonas comes up with the ideas, such as collecting the carts for the homeless to better store their belongings.
He recently launched his fundraiser and has already raised more than $1,000 of his $1,600 goal listed via Facebook. Each cart costs $35.
His mother is working with Reaching Out to make sure the carts go to those who are “truly homeless.” She and Jonas will distribute them together once the fundraiser is complete.
