DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. — A Cincinnati police officer showed the true meaning of Christmas when he traveled to western Kentucky this week, giving back to tornado victims in Dawson Springs.

The Cincinnati Police Department said Sgt. Dave Corlett began collecting funds for the people who lost everything when tornadoes hit several Kentucky towns. As more and more donations came in, CPD said Corlett found a business in the area to match contributions.

He decided to drive four hours to Dawson Springs and neighboring Madisonville to pass out donations to those in need. CPD said Madisonville Mayor Kevin Cotton walked him through the storm damage before he traveled throughout the two communities, passing out $12,000 worth of $100 bills to residents.

In a release, Corlett said he was deeply impacted by the trip.

"My heart is full and I urge each of you to enter this Christmas with a little more appreciation for what you have," Corlett said.

CPD said Corlett started the department's Military Liaison Group, a program that aids police response to a scene where a veteran is in crisis. According to CPD, it is now the model for other police departments across the country.

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WAUKESHA, Wisc. — The Waukesha Christmas parade was going on just a block away from the Craft Lounge on Main Street. As chaos erupted on Sunday, many used the bar to seek shelter. But on Thursday, the community used the space to heal.

Finding room to give thanks after Sunday's tragic events might seem unimaginable for those in Waukesha, but despite it all, gratitude filled the air as people came together at the Craft Lounge. Many brought their own Thanksgiving dish to contribute.

Fairuza Jones and her mother carried in a turkey. Her son and husband were downtown at the parade on Sunday.

"My son was downtown when everything happened and my heart goes out to all families, you know, that lost a loved one or had somebody injured," Jones said.

Jones' son is only 6 years old and thankfully was unharmed. Today, she is grateful her loved ones are alive.

The Friendsgiving event was originally a private party that Tony Davis was organizing for his friends.

"I had a lot of friends that don't have family members to spend the holiday with," Davis said. "When everything on Sunday happened, that's when plans changed."

While Davis wasn't at the parade, he has still felt every bit of pain and loss that many in his Waukesha community are experiencing.

"It's tough driving down that street and seeing the areas where you know certain things occurred and happened," he said. "Now more than ever, we really want people to understand, whether you were here at the parade, you witnessed things live or you saw it on the news, we're all grieving together and we need an avenue for us to be able to heal together."

Together, he believes the community can build back.

In just 48 hours, Davis was able to gather over $3,000 of donated gifts to be auctioned off. He says all of the proceeds will be donated to the United Waukesha Fund.

"When you have that kind of outreach in such a short time it's truly a testament to what makes Waukesha strong," he said.

This story was originally published by Jessica Madhukar on Scripps station TMJ4 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

LIBERTY TOWNERSHIP, Ohio — What started as a class assignment ended up igniting a philanthropic fire within Aidan Turner.

It all started his freshman year at Lakota East High School. Aidan and his classmates had to research a nonprofit organization as part of their English classes. Each student then wrote a speech about why their chosen organizations deserved a $1,000 donation through the school’s Magnified Giving program.

Each English class picked which speech they liked best. A panel of judges narrowed the winners down to a few finalists, and the entire school decided the winner.

And while Aidan didn’t win, he advocated for GLAD House, the same organization picked by his friend who did win.

Courtesy of Magnified Giving

“So I got to be part of the ceremony, where we gave $1,000,” he said. “It was really fun. I learned a lot about a lot, you could say.”

He learned about GLAD House and the children it serves as the organization works to break the cycle of addiction. He learned about Magnified Giving and its founder, Roger Grein, who spent years quietly giving away his own money before he launched Magnified Giving. And he learned about philanthropy and how much joy it could bring.

“It shows you how good giving can be and how that’s just an amazing feeling to give back to other people,” Aidan said. “When you actually work with kids and you work with people and you experience that joy of just giving and helping out – that is the real payout for me.”

And that’s the goal of Magnified Giving, said Alison Kaufman, the nonprofit organization’s director of programs.

Lucy May | WCPO

“Our goal is to support educators and youth development leaders in our region to educate, inspire and engage their youth to care about their community and others,” Kaufman said. “We are so fortunate to engage with dozens of students like Aidan every single year. However, he really struck us, because we saw his passion, the depth of his knowledge through his research on the organization and also the empathy that he showed for the youth that that organization was supporting.”

‘Our youth will change our world’

“We saw in that moment, a lifelong philanthropist was developed,” she said. “And this was a ninth-grade student.”

Aidan is a sophomore now, busy with classes, marching band and his other activities.

But he said he’s determined to stay involved with Magnified Giving and philanthropy.

“I told them I want to be involved every year you do this. We’ve got to figure something out,” he said. “There’s no Magnified Giving program here at the main campus, so that’s my next goal.”

Kaufman said Magnified Giving is determined to stay connected to Aidan, too, because of the enthusiasm he showed for the program and for philanthropy.

Lucy May | WCPO

“We believe that our youth will change our world for the better,” she said.

Magnified Giving supports 120 programs at schools and youth leadership organizations this academic year, Kaufman said, and aims to keep growing.

“We are creating a kinder, more empathetic, more compassionate group of young community leaders,” she said. “It’s truly something that all of us can learn from. And if we as adults just step back and listen to our youth, we’re all going to be better and kinder for it.”

Aidan said he never thought he had the ability to give back until his involvement with Magnified Giving. Now he hopes more people will try giving their time, talents or money to make the community a better place.

“Go make someone’s day, make them happy, help them out,” he said. “And I think you’ll be surprised about how happy it will make you feel in return.”

Lucy May | WCPO

More information about Magnified Giving – including how to donate and how schools can get involved – is available online.

Acts of Kindness stories appear weekly on WCPO 9 News and WCPO.com. If you know about an act of kindness that you think should be highlighted, email lucy.may@wcpo.com.

DETROIT — If children can see themselves in the books they read, it opens up a world of possibilities, a world of understanding.

"It's critical that as we are growing up, and we have hopes and dreams, that we see ourselves in the literature around us, that we know that we, too, can be anything we want to be," said Cindy Eggleton, co-founder of Brilliant Detroit.

Brilliant Detroit, the organization that aims to create kid-success neighborhoods, has teamed up with Little Free Library to get more diverse books into the hands of local kids.

"So there will be 14 throughout the city and one year of free books that are brand new written by authors of color. And this is what we need ... it's an amazing effort," said Eggleton.

It’s all part of Little Free Library's "Read in Color" initiative, which was launched last year in response to the murder of George Floyd.

Read in Color libraries have rolled out in six cities, including Detroit.

Courtesy Brilliant Detroit

"I have to tell you that especially during now, during COVID, during all of the issues that exist in the world, this last week when we launched this, my heart was so full. We had about 100 people show up. The kids were thrilled and excited and picking up books, sitting and reading them, and also just enjoying each other. That is a beautiful thing," said Eggleton.

From perspectives on racism and social justice to celebrating diverse voices, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, these books will be available at the Read in Color-designated Little Free Library stations to grow book collections across Detroit.

And some stories come right from the community.

"We are planning to lift something special to that neighborhood. I think there are so many heroes around Detroit; we don't always hear those stories," said Eggleton.

One local author who will be featured at the Brightmoor Little Free Library is 11-year-old Gabriel Etheridge.

Check out Gabriel's book here

"I wrote a book called, "When I Grow Up, What Might I Be?", it is a book written by ... 8-year-old my dad and me, and I went through different career possibilities of what I could be when I grew up," said Etheridge.

Etheridge said he’s excited to have his book featured, and he hopes other kids get inspired.

"I hope that other kids take away that no matter what you look like, who you are, you can do and be anything, anything whatsoever," he said.

Eggleton said the rollout of the 14 Read in Color libraries should be completed in October.

"We plan to continue these on forever. So we will find funders. We will find support," she said.

The goal, Cindy said, is to have 24 sites by 2024.

To learn more about Brilliant Detroit or donate, click here.

Alexandra Bahou at WXYZ first reported this story.