A big-hearted five-year-old girl spent money she got from the tooth fairy to create goody bags for the homeless to “make them smile”.
Little Amaya Thompson couldn’t believe her luck when she received £50 from the tooth fairy after losing two teeth last month.
But instead of spending it on toys, the sweet girl surprised her mum Samantha Field and suggested giving the money to the homeless instead.
Amaya made 20 ‘bags of love’ for the homeless in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, containing toiletries, food and a heartfelt letter.
The response from the grateful recipients was so overwhelming, Amaya set up a JustGiving page to make more – and collected £1,165 in just 48 hours.
School parental engagement officer Samantha, 34, said: “Amaya is such a lovely girl.
“She’s an only child, and an only grandchild as well, so she’s very well looked after – she never goes without anything.
“I’ve always been one to remind her that she is very lucky so that she doesn’t get complacent with the things that she gets. I’m very big on making sure she’s kind to other people.
“She’s just had two teeth out at the dentist and as you can imagine with her being an only grandchild, she ended up getting loads of money – I think she got about £50!
“It was a lot of money for a girl who doesn’t really need anything!
“We went out and got her a few bits, like little toys that she chose, and then I said we could save the rest of the money rather than wasting it on rubbish.
“I asked Amaya what she wanted to do with the rest of the money and she said maybe we should give it to the homeless people.
“I told her that was a lovely idea and asked her why she thought of that. She said that she’d seen me give money to homeless people and other people doing it on her iPad.
“She said the homeless people must be very cold as they don’t have anywhere to live, and that’s how this idea of bags of love came about.”
Amaya only spent £10 of the tooth fairy’s money on toys for herself, using the remaining £40 to create twenty goody bags.
Each decorated paper bag contained deodorant, dry shampoo, facial wipes, hand sanitiser, a toothbrush and food.
The bags also included a sweet unique drawing from Amaya and a letter.
It said: “Hello to whoever is reading this letter. My name is Amaya and I am five years old. I live in Stevenage with my mummy and I like butterflies, playing with my toys and making people happy.
“I lost two of my teeth and was very lucky that the tooth fairy came and gave me some money. I didn’t know what to spend all the money on because I am a very lucky girl and have lots of love and toys.
“I decided to give my money to people who need it most so with my mummy’s help, I have made these little bags of love with some of the money that the tooth fairy left for me.
“I hope this bag makes you smile and makes you feel lucky and special. Lots of love and hugs, Amaya xxx.”
The bags were donated and handed out by local homeless charity, Feed Up Warm Up.
Mum Samantha said: “She just wanted to make people smile, and the feedback we got from the charity yesterday was that the bags did just that.
“They said that the homeless people who received the bags walked away with a big smile on their face, and when I told Amaya that, she was ecstatic!
“I’m so proud of her. She’s obviously had a lot of input from me, but it’s all been her idea and that’s what has been so special about it.
“She’s always been very kindhearted, that’s how I’ve wanted to bring her up and she’s aware there are a lot of kids who don’t get as much as she does.
“She’s the kind of child who would give you her last Rolo even if you were a stranger, she’s so lovely. I’m so proud of her.”
You can donate to Amaya’s JustGiving page here – https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/samantha-field-2?utm_term=nBQyV2PY8
