Ten-year old Justin VanMeter, a 5th grade student at Cox Landing Elementary, displays some of the items he has collected for flood victims. With help from his parents, VanMeter has already collected and delivered more than $8,000 in supplies and donations in the flood relief effort.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The first time 10-year-old Justin VanMeter witnessed the aftermath of the June 23 flooding in West Virginia that damaged 3,000 homes and killed 23 people, his instincts told him there had to be something he could do.
Armed with a passion for helping people, VanMeter spent his summer collecting more than $8,000 in supplies and donations.
“He started on his bike one day going down the street looking for donations, and when I got home he handed me about $60,” Erik VanMeter, Justin’s father, said. “Then he went to church asking for donations, and it just grew from there.”
With the help of his parents, Justin VanMeter has made two trips to help flood victims, the first on Independence Day to Big Chimney and the second a few weeks later to Clay County…
