Unmentionables are not at the top of most people’s wish list.
However six-year-old Noah Ratke found that is not always the case when he and mom Gretchen reached out to a local men’s shelter to see how the money raised at a bake sale he organized could best be put to use.
“Socks and underwear” was the response they got back from officials of Compass House men’s transitional housing, operated by the Salvation Army. Noah’s mom Gretchen admitted there was concern on the part of some adults about what was being donated but her son was sticking to his guns and that’s what the $300 was spent on.
“He (Noah) just said no, that was what he wanted to get for these men,” said Gretchen. “He thought if you don’t have a home and you want a clean set of underwear and an undershirt and to feel like a person, knowing that somebody else is thinking about you and took the time to do this for you, that’s what he wanted to do.
“Noah has a really strong social conscience and always has a sometimes annoying sense of right and wrong and fairness. He likes things in real life to be fair so he likes to even things out and help out when he can.”
Noah first got the idea after reading a book.
“It was called Ruby’s Hope about a little girl who helped the homeless and I wanted to help out the homeless in Penticton,” said Noah. “My mom and I called the Salvation Army men’s shelter and asked what they needed most. They said they really needed underwear. I wanted the men at the shelter to know that there were people thinking about them and wanting them to succeed.
“Everybody deserves respect and the right to be happy. Even little kids like me can make a difference.”
Dennis Cyr, who operates the shelter for the Salvation Army, feels Noah’s donation is something that will mean a lot to the people who call the downtown shelter home.
“When people come in here often times they just have the clothes that they’re wearing so something like a brand new clean pair of underwear is important,” said Cyr. “We can give them used clothes like pants and shirts but to have a brand new pair of clean underwear is pretty important.
“It’s really amazing to have a young person like that thinking about people other than themselves. I think it’s a challenge to all of us. It’s the little things like underwear, things that we take for granted that make a difference.”
Gretchen added she and her son often talk about social issues and like she did when she was a kid, listen to CBC radio and the news.
The family also knows what it’s like to be in a difficult situation.
“When we were in Vancouver we were laid off and we had no place to live,” she said. “The weight of the world is on them (homeless) and Noah knows what it’s like to be stressed and not knowing what might happen in your life.”