Gabriel Clark holds the bowl he is raffling off.Photo: Richard Clark
Gabriel Clark fell in love with woodworking around age three or four when his mother handed the tot his grandfather’s hammer.
“I’ve always had a real passion for it,” Gabriel, now 12, tells PEOPLE, “and I’ve just taught myself everything I know.”
The Cumbria, England, schoolchild also has an innate wish to do good, which he put into effect this spring.
On March 25, Gabriel’s father, Richard Clark, tweeted about his son’s craftsmanship and how he’d been saving money from sales of his handcrafted wooden bowls and cutting boards for a mountain bike. The post went viral, and Gabriels' Instagram (@clarkie_woodwork) received thousands of orders for custom bowls and went from 6 followers to over 200,000 in 48 hours.
Gabriel decided to turn his newfound popularity into a chance to help others. The talented, young craftsman recentlylaunched a rafflefor one of his handmade bowls — etched with a blue and yellow ring, the colors of Ukraine’s flag —to raise money for Ukrainian children.
As of Friday morning, Gabriel hasraised more than $109,450for Save the Children’s Ukraine relief effort.
A winner of the bowl raffle will be chosen at random this Sunday, April 17.
Gabriel Clark.Richard Clark
Gabriel received over 20,000 orders shortly after his dad posted the tweet. “As a response to being so supported,” the boy says, he came up with the Bowl for Ukraine raffle.
“The main thing about Gabriel, he’s got a really, really big heart,” says his mother, Teresa McCann Clark, 53, an artist. “He’s talented, he’s creative, but more than anything, he’s got a big heart.”
To follow Gabriel’s Bowl for Ukraine raffle, visitthe fundraiser’s website.
source: people.com
