Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Jaden Hayes was an orphan by the age of 6.
When he was 4, his father died, and his mother died unexpectedly in her sleep in July.
"Anybody can die, just anybody," he told Steve Hartman earlier this month.
It's an unbelievably tough situation for anyone, let alone a child so young. While Jaden said he's still sad his mom died, he was tired of seeing so many other sad people around him.
He told his aunt and guardian, Barbara DiCola, he had a plan to fix the sadness, and it was simply to make sad people smile. Jaden decided he would accomplish his goal by handing out small toys to strangers in downtown Savannah.
The charming and touching video above shows that he's accomplishing his goal, one unsmiling stranger at a time. Jaden's handed out almost 500 toys, and he's hoping to hand out 33,000 total.
DiCola said the change in Jaden after he started this project is wonderous.
"It's like sheer joy came out of this child," said DiCola. "And the more people that he made smile, the more this light shone."
Jaden and his aunt now have a social media campaign called #TheSmileProject. They are not soliciting donations, but if you wish to learn more visit their Facebook page.
