8-year-old creates 'hero bags' for veterans to fight virus amid pandemic

MARYLAND (WJLA) - While some kids may be bored at home, 8-year-old Tyler Stallings is busy getting ready for a special delivery.

“Roughly about 10 boxes and about 20 bags,” said Stallings.

He has been honoring veterans with donations, since he was four years old.

In November, he raised over $50,000 for his cause.

Amid the pandemic, he’s putting together care packages with his mother Andrea Blackstone.

They’re calling them “hero bags.”

“The reason why I call them hero bags, is because they are heroes, they’ve helped us,” said Stallings.

“I thought, if we can’t find hand sanitizers, how are the shelters barely keeping up with hand sanitizers?” said Stallings.

Each hero bag is filled with masks, hand sanitizers and other necessities.

The bags will be delivered to the Armed Forces Retirement Home, in D.C., next week.

“It’s going to be a contactless delivery,” said Blackstone.

Tyler’s work in the midst of the crisis, is getting a lot of praise from veterans like Jeffrey Kendrick.

Kendrick runs a non-profit organization, known as the Maryland Center For Veterans Education and Training (MCVET).

“Tyler has got a very very giving heart, which you don’t see so often in a child so young,” Kendrick said.