Hi Everyone!! As most of you know I started up the “Little Leaders” series to shed some light on the little shining stars in our communities and so far it’s been amazing to see the positive response come in from everyone in support of these uplifting blogs and the number of emails that we’ve received sharing stories of Little Leaders in YOUR communities!!
Our goal is to keep sharing these incredible stories coming because I am SO proud of all the kids out there who are doing SO much good and I believe they deserve to be recognized!! I want them to know THAT WE ARE SEEING WHAT THEY ARE DOING and we LOVE THEM! Kudos to the moms, dads and support system these kids have in order to live with such compassion and empathy! The point of this monthly feature is to spotlight these special little leaders and help them with their efforts and hope to encourage other kids, youth, and families to follow suit!
So without further adieu, our “LITTLE LEADER” for the month of January is … MASON VANDERPLOEG!!
We learned about Mason through his Auntie, Amber! Amber emailed us and shared Mason’s story and we couldn’t wait to share it with you! So, grab yourself a coffee and check out Mason’s story below!
My name is Amber and I’m the proud Auntie of a 10-year-old boy named Mason. Mason is passionate about the environment, especially protecting the oceans from plastic waste.
Mason has always been passionate about the ocean since he was very young. After watching Rob Stewart’s first movie, “Sharkwater”. He learned the dangers sharks are facing nowadays. Mason became a Junior Shark Ambassador for Sharks4kids in 2016 (grade 3). His goal is to educate and empower people to make better choices to keep the oceans healthy for all the animals that live in it.
While in Hawaii, in 2017, Mason met a lady who had just caught a baby hammerhead shark and was planning on eating it. Knowing how endangered sharks are and how long it takes them to reach maturity to breed, he decided to create a Facebook and Instagram account to reach more people.
Mason has been involved in creating petitions and letter writing campaigns to encourage local restaurants to stop serving single-use straws. He has written letters to organizations to increase their garbage cans because of all the cigarette butts on the ground. Mason goes to different establishments and speaks with owners/managers teaching them about plastic pollution. In school, Mason does presentations to the elementary grades about shark education and is currently working to implement a new recycling program in classrooms.
Recently mason had heart surgery, but even that obstacle didn’t slow him down from his passion!
Thank you so much for sharing Mason’s story with us, Amber! We are so inspired by his big heart!! For everyone out there reading this, please do us a favour and go show Mason some MAJOR LOVE on his Facebook and Instagram page!!
Mason, THANK YOU for being YOU! We want to applaud you for the incredible work you have been doing and have donated $250 to Sharks4Kids in support of your kindness and hard work!!
Ps. If you would like to show your support by making a donation to Sharks4Kids, you can do so, HERE!
xo
Jilly
Thank you to the best Auntie in the world for submitting Mason as a Little Leader and thank you Jillian for sharing his story. It has been an emotional and difficult journey these last 5 months having him suddenly needing heart surgery, but that didn’t slow him down from advocating for the ocean one bit. Can’t wait to see all the other Little Leaders and how they are making an impact in their communities! Way to go all you kids!!!
We are all SO PROUD of Mason and his heart of gold!! Sending him the most positive and healing vibes!!!! XOXOXO