8-Year-Old Girl Helps Prepare Meals For Foster Kids

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI — School projects can lead to a positive difference outside the classroom, but it’s often a college or high school initiative that does it, not one from a third grader.

But 8-year-old Harper Schlagheck of Bloomfield Hills was so inspired by a “vision board” project about helping the community that she helped her parents prepare 50 meals for foster children in Oakland and Wayne counties, her father told Patch.

“Harper goes out of her way to be a people person,” Robert Schlagheck said of the kind-hearted 8-year-old. “She always has a huge heart and has been very inclusive.”

Harper said in a WXYZ-TV Detroit video that “some people don’t have food or water, so I thought I could give them meals.”

Schlagheck's job helped move Harper’s idea along. He is chief financial officer for the Park West Gallery, which is among the world’s largest art galleries and has a foundation that supports young people who have aged out of Michigan’s foster care system. With the foundation operating out of the same building in Southfield as Schlagheck’s office, he was able to connect his daughter to just the right people.

“The foundation benefits youth transitioning out of the foster system,” Schlagheck said. “Given COVID, we have a small bubble to give them the meals they need. We do it so they have a Sunday meal and know they are loved and cared for.”

He said his daughter is “a real special kid with a huge heart.”

Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2021, about 42 million Americans may not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.