9-year-old has heart for others on his birthday 

Many 9-year-old boys want video games and action figures for their birthdays. Not Sawyer Jefferys. For the past two years, in lieu of presents, he’s made a special request.  

Instead of asking for gifts, Sawyer has asked that his friends give him donations that will go to local charity Feeding Families of Alabama.  

“I don’t need anything else,” he said. “We always see homeless people when we drive by. They hold signs and ask for food.” Sawyer said the idea just came to him and he asked his mom Erica if he could donate his presents to a local food bank.  

“He’s always wanting to stop and give money to people,” Erica said. “Before we even started planning his party, he asked if he could do it again this year.”  

Special to the Enquirer 9-year-old Sawyer Jefferys is pictured with E’dee Grunn, director of Feeding Families of Alabama, and the organizations’ pet mascot Handsome.

Erica said her son, who is a third-grade student at F.E. Burleson, has always had a big heart and love for other people.  

“You don’t ever know how your parenting is going until your child does something like this,” she said. “He makes me and his daddy proud every single day.”  

Sawyer said he has plans to continue his tradition every year in an effort to make sure no one in Hartselle goes hungry.  

“I’m probably going to do it every year so everyone has what they need,” he said.  

E’dee Grunn, who operates Feeding Families, named Sawyer the organization’s Community Hero for February. “This young man is setting a wonderful example for others in our community, and we are so proud of him,” Grunn wrote in a Facebook post celebrating Sawyer’s donation. She said the title is one they give to people who go above and beyond in helping end hunger in the community and surrounding area.  

Sawyer’s birthday donations filled three shopping carts and, while Grunn said she doesn’t yet know exactly how many people will receive the food, “each person who received something from Sawyer will be one less person who is going to bed hungry, so it means everything to each and every person he has blessed.”