A Game of Hope

Hi my name is Vivek. I am in grade four.

Last year in school I learned about homelessness with my teacher. Sometimes people don't have enough money for things like a home, food, furniture and it is not their fault. We read books and watched videos about this.

I did not know that it was a problem here in my community. I think that it is not fair that some people don't have the things that you and I may have.

I also learned that one person can make a difference if they show that they care.

Last year I learned that there is a foundation called the Ladybug Foundation that was started by a kid who was just a bit older than me. The foundation raised homes for people who needed it. When I thought about homelessness a bit more deeper I felt really sad. I think it doesn't matter who you are because everyone deserves things that you need to survive like food, shelter, clothes. I started to talk to my parents about this and I wanted to help. We researched about shelters here in Toronto.

We found a shelter called Youth Without Shelter who helped kids that are older than me and still may be in school that need a home and food. My mom called the shelter and then we decided to make a dinner. I went grocery shopping with my parents and bought things like salad, fruit, pasta, bread, chicken, gummies and vegetables. I spent the whole day cooking with my mom, dad and my mom's best friend. Some of the things I did was I made the salad and cut strawberries.

After my experience with cooking dinner I realized I should help more. So then I decided to create a blog and sell the game I made called SHEEP IN THE DESERT to raise money for kids at Youth Without Shelter.

My uncle and the shelter helped me create the blog.

My goal is to raise money for 50 kids at the shelter so that they can have 3 meals for at least one day. To do this I have to raise at least one hundred dollars. I called my blog game of hope because hope means believing that things will get better. I believe that this game will give money for food to Youth Without Shelter.

Can you help?

All you have to do is buy my computer game SHEEP IN THE DESERT for a minimum donation of $10.00. Click HERE to donate. (It’s easy! And if you donate $15.00 or more, you will get a tax receipt). When you donate, please say in the survey box that you are buying my game- SHEEP IN THE DESERT. This way the shelter will know how much money has been collected.

We have a feature article in the local newspaper detailing our efforts and story.  You can read it by clicking HERE.

The donation page link and more details about this initiative can be found here: http://www.yws.on.ca/news

How to play my game:

• You are the sheep, you can't hit by the crabs or hit the cactus as you move in the maze.
• To move to the next level you have to go to the oasis.
• To break the rocks you have get the pick axe hidden in every level.
• For extra points collect the cabbage.
• To move press arrows on your computer keyboard.

Have fun playing my game and tell me what you think.