Every bit helps

• Alex Altman

Alex Altman, 6, holds the wallet he received as a Christmas present from his dad Tuesday night in Windom. Alex donated his savings for a duck hunting trip to help with relief in Haiti.

Talk about it

WINDOM — He had been saving for a trip, but when Alex Altman learned about the tragedy that struck Haiti, he decided there were people who needed the money more than he did.

He sent a money order the next day. Alex is 6 years old.

“I was saving for a duck hunting trip to Argentina,” he said, bouncing on a couch in his living room.

Alex is the son of Mike and Kelly Altman, and a kindergarten student at Winfair Elementary School in Windom. His mom was the first person he told about his plan when he heard about the destruction in Haiti.

“I saw it on the news,” he explained. “They were saying stuff about it — how lots of houses were coming down and they didn’t have any food or water. People died when the houses came down, and that’s bad.”

When Alex told Kelly he wanted to give away his savings — $30.86 — to help the people in Haiti, she was a bit hesitant.

“At first I had no intention of following through. I thought he might regret it later,” Kelly admitted. “But he was insistent.”

To make sure Alex understood the money would be gone, Kelly had him remove it from his wallet — a recent Christmas present from Mike — and put it in a bag. Then they went to Hy-Vee and used the cash to buy a money order for $30.86 made out to the Salvation Army and designated for Haiti.

“They are going to use it to buy food or water or pieces of wood for houses,” Alex stated.

When asked what prompted him to give up his savings, Alex didn’t miss a beat.

“I’m a very caring person,” he stated frankly.

Alex said he didn’t tell anyone at school what he did, but he did tell his dad.

“He was proud,” he admitted with a smile.

His grandparents were also proud of him, and gave him a few dollars to put in his empty wallet. But he has decided to save for something different this time. Instead of a hunting trip, he wants to save up enough money to go to a Vikings game.

Alex, who has a 3-year-old sister, Ashlynn, and a black lab dog, loves to duck hunt with his dad, play football, play in the snow, and has an orange belt in Tae Kwon Do. He said he hopes to play football for the Vikings some day, and is pretty sure Brett Favre will still be quarterback by the time he is ready to start.

Tags: state and region, news, windom, haiti