The 12-year-old has raised over R4 million for children in Ukraine… all because of a wooden bowl.
Global (17 April 2022) – Three weeks ago, Richard Clark’s youngest son, Gabriel, came home upset. His love of woodwork was not deemed cool, nor was only having six followers on his Instagram. His dad took to Twitter to explain the story, and a simple post to show kindness has turned into the Easter story we all need.
The tweet that started it all was posted on the 22nd of March, but 26 days later and Gabriel Clark – a 12-year old who loves woodwork – has raised over R4 million for kids in Ukraine.
His Dad was upset when he saw his son upset.
“It’s hard watching your children battling with life. But what to do? Mum wasn’t around, so his Dad, the impulsive fool that I am, instead reached out to the lovely people on Twitter. Maybe he could persuade some of them to follow my son?”
He was aiming for 60, the magic number in teen world, when your Instagram page is apparently no longer deemed an embarrassment. So he posted the tweet and got on with cooking tea.
Lovely twitter people – I don't know how many of you are also #instagram users but I'm looking for a wee favour. I've a 12yr old who loves woodwork. He spends hours on his lathe making bowls and creating chopping boards which he's sells to save up for a mountain bike. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Ny60rFf1TE
— Richard R Clark 🇺🇦 (@rclarkie) March 25, 2022
But then something very odd happened…
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“Not only that, he had over 20,000 orders for bowls and chopping boards, which, he calculated, would take him 32yrs to fulfil. And now the press were knocking at the door. It was a lot to take in for a wee lad of 12yrs.”
But Gabriel was certain of one thing – he wanted to share the kindness. So instead of carving 20,000 bowls, he would carve just one special one – his “Bowl For Ukraine“.
They set up a Just Giving page on the 2nd of April 2022 for Save the Children’s Ukraine Appeal, with Gabriel setting a target of £5000. The plan is for the fundraiser to stay live until Easter, when one donor would be chosen at random to win his bowl.
To date, Gabriel and his little wooden bowl have raised £217,845 (R4,149,625), and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down!
“To enter the draw, all you have to do is donate some money to the SAVE THE CHILDREN Ukrainian appeal. We are all aware of the terrible suffering that the country is currently facing, and Gabriel hopes that this is a way he can pass on some of the generosity that people have shown him to children in much greater need.
So give what you can. I’m afraid the more you give doesn’t increase your chances of winning the bowl, but it couldn’t be for a better cause.
And again, a huge thank you from Gabriel. He says it’s his best bowl yet!”
What an EPIC story of kindness, compassion and love for each other!
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