Sean Hamilton, 10 years old and nervous, waited in the wings for his cue.
He was to be the special guest on the Pitner Patriot News Network morning show, the in-school newscast at Pitner Elementary in Acworth. Anchors Autaria Morgan and Maddison Hamilton (no relation) ran down the day’s highlights for their fellow students, including the lunch menu of pizza and glazed carrots, and the word of the month — “compassion.”
Which was exactly what Sean had come to talk about. He was there to encourage his fellow schoolmates to become volunteers for the homeless, like him.
After an announcement about items in the lost and found, Sean was up. He walked over to the designated spot on the set, and news director Robin Perry held up a cue card. And then Sean froze.
He mumbled a little from the cue card. Then Perry had the crew cut to the weather report by weather girl Natalia Duran.
For a fourth-grader, Sean’s work with the homeless is a bit uncommon. It’s not every day that you see 10-year-olds, in the company of adult volunteers, handing out pizzas and snacks to the homeless in downtown Atlanta. And not many kids spend their Thanksgiving break helping to collect blankets and toys for families living in shelters and on the streets.
But that’s what Hamilton has been doing, with the help of his mother, Lillian, and one of his volunteer mentors, former professional wrestler, Rocky King. And for his efforts, Sean was selected as an AJC Holiday Hero.
Sean used to help his mother deliver food for Meals on Wheels. But last year, after his father introduced him to King at a birthday celebration, Sean’s interest in helping the homeless blossomed. King, who retired from wrestling several years ago, had once been homeless during the early 1980s, when he was trying to break into the flash-and-dash world of pro-wrestling in Atlanta.
“I said if I ever made it I was going to help the homeless,” King said.
He made a name for himself in World Championship Wrestling, and when he retired he kept his promise.
Sean was fascinated by King’s escapades in the ring. But King encouraged him to focus instead on the good that could be done outside it.
So when King hosted a toy drive for kids last year, Sean gave his own toys. For a canned goods drive, Sean helped with collection. The little boy’s goal was to collect enough cans to get into the book of Guinness World Records. That feat escaped Sean, but King told him that every little bit would keep someone from going to bed hungry.
So when King decided to do a blanket drive for the homeless this holiday season, he asked his biggest fan to help. Which is why Sean was in the tiny studio in the Pitner Elementary media center. To encourage all of his classmates to give.
But he needed to actually sell it, which he was having a hard time doing. So, after the weather report, Principal Sherri Hill swooped in for another segment, Sean by her side. Hill sold it, saying she would even get her own kids to donate. She smiled, and Sean sort of smiled as his butterflies started to dissipate.
Afterward, with the cameras off, the studio clear, and the butterflies gone, Sean piped up about why he volunteers and why other children should follow suit.
“It makes me happy to have all those people happy,” he said.
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