Johns Creek elementary student helps homeless at Christmas

Driving around not far from their Johns Creek neighborhood, Antaya and Ashton Rivas often pass the same homeless man. He’ll usually be standing at the same intersection near the Avalon mixed-use development, bags sitting in a cart, with signs asking for help.

Ashton, a fifth grader at State Bridge Crossing Elementary, decided he wanted to do something to help.

“Me and my mom were just sitting in the car, and I told her I wanted to buy stuff for the needy,” said Ashton. “I said, ‘how about we just go around giving out clothes to the homeless?’”

But Ashton didn’t just want to help that particular homeless person. He wanted to help others as well. The 10-year-old decided to donate a portion of his Christmas money to help those in need. The community responded and pitched in even more, thanks in part to an app, Nextdoor, linking local neighborhoods including the Rivas’ own Timberlane subdivision.

On Christmas day, Ashton and a group of family and friends will be handing out a large collection of jackets, blankets, sweaters, pants, toothpaste, hats, gloves and other goods to the homeless at the Georgia State Capitol.

“He said, ‘Mom, I want to buy food and clothes with my Christmas money and take it to the homeless,’” said Antaya, a stay-at-home mother of four. “I asked how much money he thought he was getting because there are a lot of homeless folks. He answered that he’d help however he could.”

Ashton actually had the idea last year but wasn’t able to find a suitable shelter in time. This time around, he and his mother decided to work on their own, telling friends and family and utilizing the Nextdoor app. The app is used by neighbors for a variety of reasons, such as finding a babysitter or block party, or learning about burglaries. In this case, it was used to spread the word about helping the homeless.

It was Antaya who had the idea to ask for help from the family’s wider circle of influence and to hand out the items on Christmas Day. She and her son at first wrote up a flier with the help of Miranda Rivas, an older sibling, and went door to door. Albert Rivas, another sibling, got his football teammates at Chattahoochee High involved as well. The players each donated $5 and a sweater.

“I’m really surprised how much everyone donated,” Ashton said.

Putting the idea on the app generated even more interest. Neighbors began stopping by and dropping off items. Ashton had a thank-you card ready for each, all of them ending in the same sentence: “Thank you for helping me help others.”

One of the friends who helped Ashton help others was Donna Schwartz, a long-time neighbor who has known him since he was a baby. Her driveway faces the Rivas’ driveway across a cul-de-sac.

“My kids played with their kids growing up,” Schwartz said. “They’d spend time together after school, either at my house or theirs.”

She was contacted about helping in a few different ways. First the family came to the door with fliers asking for help, but she also noticed their efforts both on the Nextdoor app and on Facebook.

Schwartz came through with several jackets, sweatshirts, gloves and flannel shirts. She was glad to help, and not surprised that they asked.

“It didn’t surprise me at all, knowing the family,” she said. “Ashton’s really sweet and has always been a caring boy. He is just hitting the age where he’s old enough to see how he can reach out beyond this cul-de-sac. The world gets bigger for kids around the time they hit middle school. He’ll finish elementary school this year, but he has older siblings. Ashton knows there’s a whole big world out there that needs nice people.”

Schwartz may even join the family to help give out items on Christmas Day.

“It has just kind of worked itself out,” Antaya said “I didn’t think we’d have so much support, and it has been wonderful to see. Ashton is counting down the days to Christmas, and it sounds a little cheesy, but he’s excited, not to open his gifts, but to go downtown and hand out gifts for everyone else.”