[August 16, 2011] Kindness? It's in the bag Tweet Aug 16, 2011 (The Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Lina McNutt would have loved to have gone to the recent World Wrestling Entertainment show in Stockton but contented herself with wearing a T-shirt bearing the likeness of its stars, John Cena, Triple H, The Miz, Rey Mysterio and Undertaker. The $80 she'd made baby-sitting her 1-year-old niece in July had a greater destination than a ticket for a show at the Stockton Arena. The 10-year-old fifth-grader took her money and went shopping, not for school supplies for playing school, which she loves to do, or for a CD or electronic game. Instead, she bought bread, ham, cheese, chips and drinks, and bags to pack the goodies in. Lina has decided to turn her hard-earned baby-sitting money into food for the less fortunate and last week assembled 80 sandwiches that she packed in lunch sacks and took to Stockton's Family Shelter. "It feels great," Lina said. "Everyone should help the community, because it does feel good. I can get stuff every day. These people can't. I'm fortunate." Lina's inspiration came from the Internet of all places, where among the gossip and garbage she saw singer Megan Nicole's video of the Justin Bieber song "Pray." Nicole and her friends pack lunches and take them to a community shelter in the video. The piece was done last year before the holidays and ended with Nicole holding a contest for fans to send videos of themselves helping out in their communities. "(The contest) had expired, but I was like, 'I'm still going to do this, because I want to help my community,' " Lina said. She told her mom, Sofia Guzman, and her sister Tina Guzman, whose 1-year-old daughter she baby-sits in the mornings when Tina drives her husband to his job in Lathrop, of her desire to make sandwiches for the homeless. "We told her she was crazy," said Sofia Guzman, who has been McNutt's legal guardian since she was 2 weeks old. "We told her, 'No one will eat your sandwiches. You have to make them in front of them.' It took about a month and she said, 'Let's go ask.' " Lina and her mom visited the shelter and Lina was proven right. She was told she could bring sandwiches or anything else she wanted to bring. "They said it was cool that I was helping them," Lina said. She produced 41 sandwiches for lunch sacks in July. "It made me feel proud of myself," Lina said. "I was sad there wasn't enough. Some little kids didn't get any. They looked at me. My mom said we should do it every month." "The only way she can save money is for something good," Sofia Guzman said. Lina saved $80 and shopped at Food4Less and Smart & Final for the ingredients used in her lunches. She packed them in a red wagon, loaded up her mom's car and off they went to the family shelter. "Sack lunches in the multipurpose hallway" went the cry on Monday around 5 p.m. Those planning to spend the night made their way to Lina. She held out her sacks to grateful children and adults alike, most stopping to thank her for their meals. With several dozen bags remaining, Lina headed out to the line of men settled onto the sidewalk in front of the shelter and distributed the rest of her lunches. She even had an extra sandwich to feed the dog of one of the men. Shelter director John Reynolds wasn't there to meet his latest donor, but he wished he had been. "When you receive something from somebody who is giving from the heart like that, it's always well received," Reynolds said. Her goal, Lina said, is to encourage others to donate to the homeless shelter. Those not inclined to prepare food or visit the shelter themselves can donate to Lina's cause. She can be reached at [email protected]. She may not be a rising Internet sensation, but the 10-year-old whose adorable dimples accompany her ever-present smile, has the power to inspire all the same. Contact columnist Lori Gilbert at (209) 546-8284 or [email protected]. Visit her blog at recordnet.com/lensblog. To see more of The Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.recordnet.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Record, Stockton, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]