5-Year-Old Birmingham Boy Named One Of 2018's Most Influential

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Sometimes the biggest gifts come in small packages. The homeless population in Birmingham can surely say that about 5-year-old Birmingham resident Austin Perine, who began a personal crusade to feed the homeless over the summer, and for his efforts, has been named by CNN as one of the country's most influential people of 2018.

The CNN report named "5 People Who Inspired Us This Year" and the list included Perine, who started his mission by handing out chicken sandwiches to homeless people in Birmingham, and spread his mission to more than a dozen cities.

"It's been an awesome experience to make people smile, carrying something on that started with 25 chicken sandwiches," Austin's dad TJ Perine told CNN.

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Related Story: Birmingham 4-Year-Old Helping Homeless

The crusade began when Perine and his father were watching a TV show about pandas. It showed a mama panda abandoning a baby, and TJ told his son the cub was now homeless.

"He says, 'What's homeless?' I said, 'It's when you don't have a home and sometimes you don't have mom or dad around,'" said TJ Perine.

Perine has traveled to more than 15 cities, including San Juan, Puerto Rico, to help others in need. Austin's father has since started a nonprofit for future philanthropic work by his son.

Austin calls his project the "Show Love" campaign, and T.J. has started a GoFundMe page to help his son continue his philanthropy.

Image via GoFundMe