WORCESTER ― A 12-year-old boy in Worcester wants to be sure every child has a basket full of goodies waiting for them Easter morning, even those living in shelters.
“We were getting my nephew an Easter basket and Josh had whispered to me, ‘Are the rest of the kids gonna have Easter?'” Josh’s stepmother, Crystal Sowden, said.
Crystal asked an employee at the shelter who told them most of the children at the shelter won’t get baskets.
That year, using the power of Facebook, Josh made and donated 60 baskets. Crystal posted something about Josh’s wish in a Facebook group. Family and friends sent Josh what he needed to make the baskets.
The year after, Josh wanted to do it again. By the next Easter, Josh had made 105 baskets for children in area shelters. In 2022, he made 150. Last year, he made 175.
Shortly after Easter last year, the family received a seven-day eviction notice.
“Right after we actually dropped the baskets off last year, we became homeless,” Crystal said. “We were homeless from the end of April last year to the week before Christmas last year.”