Undated (MNN) — When 15-year-old Barrett Mills learned that children from a leprosy colony needed a new van, he knew he had to do
something.
"I'm only 15-years-old, but I have a huge passion to make a
difference in other people's lives," he said.
Barrett and three friends — 13-year-old A.J. Bennett; 15-year-old
Abigail Bennett; and 15-year-old Ben Zelent — bicycled 400 miles from Holland,
Michigan, to Mackinaw City, Michigan, from July 21 to July 26. They rode through Grand Haven, Muskegon, and
along the north shore of Lake Michigan and successfully raised the
$16,000 needed.
The children from the leprosy colony live at a hostel sponsored by World Hope International, and it provides them with a loving home and
transportation to school. Sponsorship dollars provide food, clothing, and school tuition for the kids, but not a new
van. The hostel's rundown 1961 jeep could
no longer provide safe or dependable transportation for the 4-kilometer trip
through India's chaotic traffic.
Without outside help, discrimination traps the
children of lepers in poverty. To find out how you can
make a difference in the life of a needy child, click here.
