A Chesapeake student showed that it is never too early to start making a difference.

Five-year-old Tommy Cannon recently donated boxes of canned goods generated from a food drive that he essentially initiated on his own.

The young man was prompted by a family member who told him to do something positive for the community rather than getting her a Christmas gift. Cannon enlisted the help of his classmates at Chesapeake Elementary and they gave a nice early Christmas present to Charles Bell, director of the Compassion First food pantry at the Chesapeake Church of the Nazarene.

We applaud Cannon, his classmates and his family for this effort. Although the actual food donations themselves are very important, the biggest impact could be the positive message this sends to this young man and the fact that it helps instill the need to help others.

For his efforts we recognize Tommy Cannon with this week’s, “Good News, Good Neighbors” spotlight.

Helping our youth understand the season of giving and helping them see first-hand the impact they can have by being concerned citizens is very important.

It appears that young Tommy Cannon has learned this lesson well.