By Aaron Stuckel

Swift Current boy gets Game Changer recognition

Aug 18, 2013 | 4:08 PM

Thinking back to summer’s as a 9-year-old kid, you might remember bike rides, sprinklers and a whole lot of messing around. But for one young boy in Swift Current, he’s spent the last month collecting donations to give to the less fortunate. And he stands to win a lot of money because of it.

Osten Poh has spent the last month or so walking around Swift Current to drop off posters at local businesses. He’s looking for donations, mostly in the form of gift cards, to help pay for dairy products to take to the Salvation Army. In just a few weeks, Osten’s “Dairy Department” has raised over $1,400.

“At the Salvation Army, they don’t have very many dairy products,” said Poh,adding that all the donations help feed those who need them.

According to Poh’s mother, Ramie, Austin has been stuck on trying to help his community. Even at a young age, he saved up $214 dollars in change to give to the Angel Tree at the Salvation Army. On a trip to Mexico, Osten watched a woman washing her clothes in a creek and decided to give the last of his American dollars to a charity, hoping it would one day get to her.

“I thought that it was a phase, but that’s his heart,” said Ramie.

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Ramie said she tries to teach her son not to judge a book by its cover, and has never explained to Osten what it means to be homeless. But she said she has always tried to make her son understand that he was fortunate to be in a financially secure family. Trips to Wal-Mart never meant toys for Osten.

Just a few weeks ago, Osten was nominated as a Scotiabank Game Changer by a family friend living in Regina. With enough votes, he stands to win up to $25,000 and a VIP trip to the Grey Cup. For Osten, it’s a shot at hopefully meeting some of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (he want to his first game on Saturday). But for Ramie, it’s validation for the work her and her husband have put in, not only in helping with the Dairy Department project, but for how they’ve parented their only child.

“He is a good kid, and I’m honoured to be the mom of this little boy who is helping his local community,” she said.
For Osten though, it’s not about winning competitions or going to Grey Cup games. He just doesn’t want to see people go hungry.

“I was always sad when people didn’t have enough money for food. So that’s why I wanted to help,” he said. “If I was one of them, I would be sad. And I would want food too.”

Voting has already begun for the competition. You can find the page here.

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Twitter: @princealbertnow