Cody Clark

Little Guy Making a Big Difference,
Heckston, Ontario

Ten-year-old Cody Clark is a charitable tour de force. At age seven, he raised $2,500 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation because his friend Brenna needed a new heart. And when the cardiac unit where she was treated threatened to close, he started a petition (the unit remains open).

Cody often visited the hospital himself, due to ear infections. During the long waits he felt "sad and lonely, with nothing to do," he says, so he dreamed up Cody's Comfort Kits, packed with books, crayons, small toys and teddy bears. He has donated 140 to local hospitals and designed Grandma and Grandpa kits, too. Cody raises most of the money for the kits himself. With a hand from his mother, Janice, he started Cody's Poor Boy's Supper; last year's event raised $7,380.

"Doing good work makes me glad inside," says Cody. That gladness shines against a dark shadow, though. When Cody was five, his dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and his mom with melanoma shortly after that. "I thought I was going to be an orphan," he says.

His mom is now cancer-free but his dad is terminally ill. Cody raised money for the local palliative care centre, "so my dad has a room when he needs it."

Cody says:
"Knowing that I had won such a wonderful national award blew me away. I felt so proud to be Canadian and that, as a kid, I could make a difference to other kids and adults who might feel a little better because I had made the effort!"