Editorial: NM boy proof that poor families can overcome

For all those who might believe New Mexico’s poor and minority kids are in a helpless, hopeless situation, 13-year-old Donovan Smith doesn’t fit the mold.

His motto is “Do what you can.” That’s how he lives, and the young optimist thinks it’s something anyone can do.

The seventh-grader has spent the last two years proving that depending on a single mom and teetering on the edge of homelessness can inspire greatness. Last week, he was honored nationally for his work crafting thousands of personal-use bars of soaps for local charities.

And while receiving McDonald’s 365 Black Community Choice Youth Award on BET and getting recognition from celebrities like Russell Simmons, Queen Latifah, Wesley Snipes, DL Hughley and others is pretty cool, Smith didn’t do it for the fame.

At the ripe old age of 11, he decided he needed to give back.

Smith moved to Albuquerque from Georgia in 2011 with his mom, a Navy veteran, to live in the Henderson House, a project that provides a transitional living facility for homeless female vets and their children.

Since then, he has raised money for the Supportive Housing Coalition of N.M.; made and donated more than 300 soaps to the Albuquerque Stand Down program that helps homeless veterans; helped feed hundreds of St. Martin’s Hospitality Center clients and donated 185 Mylar Blankets, 432 toothbrushes, 480 combs and cases of diapers and feminine hygiene products; and sponsored St. Martin’s Shower Room, making and donating between 600 and 1,000 soaps a month.

“I hope that I can inspire other people to do what they can,” Donovan says. “At the awards show, I met some of the previous winners, and we want to do a project together.”

If they have half the drive Donovan does, the collaboration should give thousands of other folks facing tough times not only help in the short term, but inspiration to pay it forward in the long run.

— Albuquerque Journal