Cameron Gordon knows what it’s like to struggle.
As a 22-year-old man with Down syndrome, he’s faced his share of challenges.
But Gordon has also had the love of family and friends, who have helped him reach some amazing goals in life. He’s been an Easter Seals ambassador, a champion powerlifter, a Special Olympian and last year he raised $10,000 competing in Hospice P.E.I.’s Dancing with the Stars.
So when Gordon saw young people on the streets of Charlottetown experiencing homelessness, living in the frigid cold, he knew he had to help.
“It hurts my heart to look at them outside and being very, very cold,” said Gordon.
“Not having any house to keep you cosy or any food and love. When I look at them, I know they’re in trouble. I want them not to give up hope,”
Gordon thought the gift of a Christmas stocking might help brighten a dark holiday season for young people in need and Stockings from the Heart was born.
Proud of son
Together with his mother, Catherine MacInnis, Gordon is making 20 holiday stockings filled with gift cards for grocery stores and coffee shops, warm clothing, toiletries and treats. MacInnis is proud to see her son helping others in this way.
“Over the course of Cameron’s life, I’ve always tried to remind him that he has a purpose in life. Despite the fact that he needed a lot of help, he also had a lot of strength and a lot to give to this world. So I think when we walk on the sidewalk and see those people, Cameron sees that they have a purpose too,” said MacInnis.
“The world will be a better place for everyone if we lift each other up.”
Gordon is partnering with The Adventure Group and the Charlottetown Outreach Centre, to identify people who need help. One recipient is a young mother with addiction issues who is trying to get an apartment so she can regain custody of her child. Another is a young man with autism who is currently working on his GED and looking for a steady job to help better himself.
These are the people Gordon wants to help.
“I feel they are not happy and they are living in the darkness,” said Gordon.
“We can’t walk past them, they need us to help them. That’s what we’re here for. They really need the light.”
Gordon sees himself when he looks at young people living on the street. If he’d been born into a different family or circumstance he might be the one cowering in the cold.
I really want to help them so they won’t be sad anymore.— Cameron Gordon
“I feel I’m like them, what happens if I’d be outside? No house, no nothing — and what happens if you give up on everything?” said Gordon.
“It really hurts me in my core and in my heart. I really want to help them so they won’t be sad anymore.”
Gordon’s goal is to spread Christmas kindness and he smiles as he imagines the moment these young people open their stockings.
“They’re going to feel really happy, they’ve got food, they’ve got a whole lot of love. And I’m thinking maybe they will pick up their life back up again and move forward and I’ll be super proud of them. I want to say do not focus on the past — focus on right now.”
Gordon is hoping to collect small donations from the public to help fill the stockings and is happy to pick them up. People can reach out to him through his Facebook page.