INDIANAPOLIS — Ten-year-old Maddox O’Connor is at it again, sending his "blessing bags" to local police officers.
You met Maddox last month on National Pay it Forward Day, when we told you about his ambitious project to help the needy.
On Wednesday, the items were delivered to Metro Police. Officers at IMPD's North District headquarters unloaded nearly a dozen containers, each packed with blessing bags. The next step is for the officers to share them with people in need.
The bags are filled with snacks, water and toiletries like a toothbrush. They also include a heartwarming note that reads "you are important."
Maddox’s mission is to help the homeless, and he told officers at North District roll call why it's so important.
“It makes me happy and it makes them happy to know someone loves them,” he said.
Maddox understands what it's like to struggle, to hurt and to have bad days. He was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and goes to Riley Hospital for Children at least once a week. Three years ago, on a drive home from Riley, Maddox saw a man with a sign that said “homeless and hungry.”
“And I said ‘Mommy, I never ate my lunch, can I give it to him?”
But he didn't stop there.
Maddox began collecting donations, often delivering them in person.
“I thought ‘how amazing this little tiny person who has every right to be angry and upset about the situation isn't,’” said mom Shawn O’Connor.
Maddox's current goal is to distribute 3,000 blessing bags by year's end.
“If someone like that, a young 10-year-old boy, can do something that big to make an impact on the city, we all need to look in the mirror and realize ‘we can do something as well,’” said Jack Traub, an IMPD officer.