{"id":1175,"date":"2026-03-06T23:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/?page_id=1175"},"modified":"2026-03-06T23:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:08:22","slug":"the-8-year-old-who-started-hero-bags-to-help-homeless-veterans","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/the-8-year-old-who-started-hero-bags-to-help-homeless-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"The 8-Year-Old Who Started \u201cHero Bags\u201d to Help Homeless Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"83\" data-end=\"229\">Most eight-year-olds spend their free time playing games or watching cartoons. Tyler Stallings had something different on his mind.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"231\" data-end=\"446\">He had been learning about veterans who once served their country but later found themselves without stable housing. Some were staying in shelters. Others were simply trying to get through each day with very little.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"448\" data-end=\"493\">Tyler felt he needed to do something to help.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"495\" data-end=\"758\">Instead of only talking about the problem, he started a small project that he called <strong data-start=\"580\" data-end=\"593\">Hero Bags<\/strong>. The idea was simple but meaningful. Each bag would include basic items veterans might need, such as hygiene supplies, socks, snacks, and other everyday essentials.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"760\" data-end=\"902\">At the beginning, it was a small effort. Tyler started collecting items and packing the bags with the help of his family and a few supporters.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"904\" data-end=\"985\">But when people heard about what he was doing, the project began to grow quickly.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"904\" data-end=\"985\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1176\" src=\"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/645867739_1324627619690631_6802402478122151436_n-240x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/645867739_1324627619690631_6802402478122151436_n-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/645867739_1324627619690631_6802402478122151436_n.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"987\" data-end=\"1128\">Donations started coming in from the community. More supplies were gathered. More bags were packed and delivered to veterans who needed them.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1130\" data-end=\"1310\">Over time, Tyler raised <strong data-start=\"1154\" data-end=\"1175\">more than $50,000<\/strong> to support the initiative. The project provided essential supplies to <strong data-start=\"1246\" data-end=\"1269\">over 3,000 veterans<\/strong> who were working to rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1312\" data-end=\"1422\">What started as one child\u2019s concern for others slowly turned into a movement that reached thousands of people.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1424\" data-end=\"1523\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Sometimes the biggest acts of service begin with the smallest decision \u2014 the simple choice to care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most eight-year-olds spend their free time playing games or watching cartoons. Tyler Stallings had something different on his mind. He had been learning about veterans who once served their country but later found themselves without stable housing. Some were staying in shelters. Others were simply trying to get through each day with very little. Tyler [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1175","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1177,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1175\/revisions\/1177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}