This year for Christmas, Northmor fifth grader Dominick Hobson decided it was better to give than to receive.

“My parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, and I told them all I wanted was air,” said Dominick. “That’s how it all started. And a few weeks later we talked to someone who goes to a church who does Operation Christmas Child boxes, and we thought that sounded like a good idea.”

The someone the Hobsons spoke to was family friend Pat Maxwell, who attends Galion Grace Point Church. The church packs boxes for Operation Christmas Child each year.

“So I did two boxes for kids around my age group, and my mom did two boxes,” Dominick said. “We went shopping and bought two items of each thing we chose to go in the boxes.”

After the boxes had been dropped off to Grace Point, word of Dominick’s generosity had spread and some other toys and donations were dropped off to the Hobson’s home.

“We ended up with a tote of unexpected donations,” said Kim Hobson, Dominick’s mother. “We took those to another church to be used as a Christmas store for kids to come pick out gifts at no charge prior to Christmas.”

A simple gesture from a kind-hearted boy that will surely go a long way this holiday season for those in need. And most likely, he doesn’t quite realize the impact he has had on those in his community. The significance of his kindness is not lost on Dominick’s parents.

“He has always been a kind-hearted kid,” said John Hobson, his father. “We always tell him how proud we are of him. He stays out of trouble and always thinks of others first.”

“He is always trying to help others,” added Kim Hobson. “We used to give him money to buy gifts at the Christmas store at school, and he would give it away to others so they could buy things, and he would come home with nothing.”

Reach Erin Miller at [email protected].