A 10-Year-Old Shares the Generosity of the Holiday Season

During November and December, while many kids are writing their holiday wish lists, 10-year-old Gwen Dandrow of Lynnfield sets up her annual peer-to-peer fundraising page and asks friends and family members to donate to The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB).  

Gwen’s annual fundraiser began when she was five years old and a kindergarten student attending school virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gwen’s mom, Dara, was working full time with Gwen and her younger brother, Theodore, at home.  

“A special part of our day was getting out of the house and going through the Starbucks drive-through,” Dara explains. One day while waiting in the car, the radio played a news segment about the need for food and the long lines forming outside of food pantries across the country.  

“What are we going to do about this?” Gwen asked her mom. 

“Gwen is sensitive, curious, and she just had question after question about food insecurity,” Dara recalls. Together, they conducted research online, found GBFB’s website, and made a donation. “I thought that might have been the end of it,” Dara says. “But Gwen is very tenacious.” 

Gwen declared that she wanted donations to GBFB in lieu of Christmas presents. “I’ve talked to Theodore, and he doesn’t want any presents, either,” she told Dara at the time. 

Dara and Gwen filmed a fundraising video asking for support and sent it out to family and friends.  

“And now, every year since I was five, I’ve made a video and shared it with my family and friends,” Gwen says. Her strategy, she explains, is to blend messages of gratitude with statistics about hunger from GBFB and Feeding America. “I’ve done pretty well,” she adds with a smile. 

These days, fundraising is a holiday tradition for Gwen and her family.  

“The Greater Boston Food Bank makes it really easy with Hunger Free Holidays,” says Dara. “The interface is so easy; it’s just become part of our Christmas routine.” 

Last year, Gwen raised over $3,700 with the help of Stop & Shop’s matching sponsorship. She’s hoping to surpass that amount this year. Gwen and Dara will also go online to make an additional contribution to GBFB on the same day they donate every year—Taylor Swift’s birthday. 

“My children are very lucky,” Dara says, “Gwen from a young age has always been trying to redirect the generosity elsewhere.”