Brittany Kelley
KYLE — When 13-year-old Londyn Boone saw her community members struggling over the past few months, she said that God gave her a mission — to help them.
According to the Lehman High School freshman, the idea for The Londyn Legacy Foundation sparked two months ago and, since then, she and her mom have been working together to bring it to fruition.
“My overall goal is to help the community and bring everybody back together,” said Londyn.
Crystal Boone, Londyn’s mother, was “overjoyed” when her daughter came to her with the idea. The organization’s first project was a toy drive.
“When she told me that she wanted to start with a toy drive initially and branch out and do other things, I was like, ‘Okay. We don’t have much time, but let’s put it into action.’ So, we had probably about five weeks or so to put the toy drive itself together,” recalled Crystal. “We wanted to do, like she said, something that would bring the community together as a whole.”
To achieve this, Londyn came up with a carnival style event, which included face painting, a DJ for music, free food, door prizes and more, while collecting new and unwrapped toys for children and gifts for mothers that were donated to the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Shelter.
The pair also set up an Amazon Wish List for items to be donated, such as bicycles, scooters and self-care items for mothers, that has since seen an immense amount of support, said Crystal.
“Me, personally, I’ve always got what I wanted for Christmas, but I want that to be the case for other people, as well, because Christmas is my favorite time of the year,” emphasized the 13-year-old.
To aid with the event were Londyn’s friends and teachers. She hopes to have the toy drive annually to continue aiding her community members.
Next up for Londyn is tutoring for students in the summer, since “summer slide” can often happen. Additionally, she is working on gaining her 501(c) status as a nonprofit.
Community members can find out more information on upcoming events from The Londyn Legacy Foundation by following @thelondynlegacyfoundation on Instagram.
