Good News12-year-old boy saves his grandmother’s house from foreclosure
A 12-year-old Wisconsin boy intervened when he learned that his grandmother's home was scheduled for auction.
Noah Lamaide raised $10,500 in one month to save his grandmother's century-old home from the chopping block.
"I wasn't even sure I was going to make it," Noah told ABC News.
"I called our local representative, the governor, the president, not asking for money but asking them to help me find a program and they couldn't do it," Sparhawk told Fox News. "But this 12-year-old could. He saved this house."
Noah's grandmother, Janice Sparhawk, fell behind on her mortgage payments after taking out money to replace the roof of the home built by her grandfather.
With complications from asthma and eye surgery, the 72-year-old woman who fostered hundreds of Wisconsin children over the years found it difficult to make up the missed payments.
Noah, a budding philanthropist, took on his grandma's house as his annual community service project.
On his 9th birthday, Noah was challenged by his mother, Jill Sparhawk Lamaide, to tackle a community project every year. He launched a website, Noah's Dream Catcher Network, and started raising money for causes dear to him.
"He's always putting others before himself, even as a little child," Lamaide told ABC News. "I think he got it from seeing the foster kids come into my mom's home."
Last year, he attempted to raise money to send a family friend, who was suffering from cancer, and her family to Disneyland. She died before the family could go — "He was a little discouraged by that," Lamaide said of her son — but the remaining members still went in her memory later on.
ABC News reports that Noah also organized a picnic for veterans.
"It just makes me feel happy and like I did something to help the world," he said.
He met his $10,000 goal to save his grandma's house in just one month, thanks to his Dream Catcher Network:
"My Grandma incase you don't know her has a heart of gold. She has given so much to our community since I can remember!!!" he wrote on his website. "She has done Foster Care ever since I was born and has helped 100s of children who would not have had a safe place to stay in the middle of the night when their own parents were not able to care for them. Her home will go for auction on Feb 15th. Please help me save her home so the kids of Portage City in need still have a place to go that is safe!! I want to give her her home back for Valentine's Day!!"
He met his goal — and gave her her home back.
"I never knew that there were so many good people in this world," Noah told MyFoxWausau.com.
"It means a lot to be here in my house" Sparhawk said. "[Noah] is a special boy."