LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A Lawrenceville teen who has spent the last 10 years collecting and distributing winter wear to those in need has a new plan for springtime. He’s putting them in a hoodie.
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Caden Jackson, CEO of Loved and Protected Foundation says anyone who needs a jacket should be given one.
“I knew that I had to help kids. God gave me a plan,” Caden Jackson told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen.
This past weekend in Gwinnett County Jackson organized an effort to collect more than 100 hoodies.
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“What teenager doesn’t need a hoodie,” Renee Jackson, Caden Jackson’s mother asked.
Caden Jackson’s mother says he especially wants them to go to teens who are unhoused.
“He definitely wants to make a difference. A real difference,” Renee Jackson said.
Channel 2 Action News first introduced you to Caden Jackson back in 2021. He was just 11 years old then—but he began following his heart at the age of four when he noticed that some of his classmates at pre-school didn’t have winter wear.
Over the last 10 years, he has collected and distributed thousands of donated hats, scarves, and gloves. Last summer, he got a very early start by helping Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz with Brad’s Coat Drive. Together they put warm coats on thousands of metro area residents in need.
Now, with spring a few days away, he has shifted to hoodies.
“There’s a Loved and Protected hoodie that we’re donating,” Caden Jackson said.
Caden Jackson says he wants everyone he encounters to feel loved and protected, one hoodie at a time.
“They’re for kids, adults, anybody who needs them. I feel like I’m doing what God has told me to do,” Caden Jackson said.
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