HEARTWARMING images have emerged online showing a little girl spreading the Christmas spirit by selling reindeer dust to raise money for homeless people.
Orlaith Russell, 7, received online praise after her family posted about her incredible efforts which have now seen her raise £1000.
The young girl from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, and her Mum, Laura, decided to sell the magic dust in order to provide homeless people around Glasgow with food over the Christmas period.
Orlaith’s Dad, Stephen, then posted images of his daughter and her reindeer dust onto his Facebook page yesterday,captioned with:
“Super proud of this little lady, after making reindeer dust with mummy she decided to start selling them for £1.50 and with all the proceeds, she decided she wanted to give a little back and wanted to go out and feed the homeless with McDonald’s.
“After tallying up she has managed to raise a whopping £200.
“So, on behalf of Orlaith I would like to thank you all for your contribution. She can’t wait to get out and hand out the food.”
The pouches, containing oats and glitter are wrapped in cellophane packaging and brought together with a silver tie.
The small package also comes complete with a rhyme on how to use the dust, it reads: “Sprinkle on your lawn at night, the moon will make it sparkle bright. As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam, this will help them find your home.”
Orlaith put the packets together with her Mum and had help from her little sister, two-year-old Kiana-Grace.
Speaking today Orlaith’s dad, Stephen, said: “Her mum came up with the idea to make the dust with her.
“Orlaith decided she wanted to sell it and buy McDonald’s for the homeless.
“We weren’t expecting it to go as far as it has, yesterday it was only sitting at £200 but the owner of Black Rooster Piri Piri matched her £200 and some other companies have matched it.”
The sign installation engineer added: “She’s buzzing, she loves TikTok so getting likes is a big thing for her.
“Her Mum can’t believe the response as well; her gran and grandpa dote on her and some of the comments online about what a brilliant wee girl she are great.
“We are going to run it until the 31st of December, but we have stopped making the dust now and are just taking donations.
“We are going to buy some McDonald’s, some magic blankets and some gloves for the homeless.”
Her uncle Barry also made a post about Orlaith, tweeting: “My niece sold reindeer dust and made £200 and is going to go round Glasgow and hand out McDonald’s to the homeless people.
“McDonald’s I think you should match it.”
Social media users have loved the posts made about Orlaith, one of which has received over 4,000 likes.
@Gollybhoy wrote: “Amazing. Well done young lady, seriously impressive to be so kind and selfless and show such empathy at a young age.
“@McDonalds surely you can help add to this.”
@Andyboyrangers added: “What a fantastic wee girl, brilliant.”
@Scotty1872 said: “What an absolute wee star your niece is and you should be so proud of her.”
A spokesman for McDonald’s said: “Our local franchisee in the East Kilbride area – Kate Walker – has committed to providing at least 50 free meals to Orlaith’s cause.
“Kate and her team are in contact with Stephen and Orlaith now.”
Speaking today Kate Walker, McDonald’s Franchisee said: “I was so moved by Orlaith’s lovely story.
“It’s been a challenging year but Orlaith has reminded us how important it is to be kind and compassionate to others, and I hope our contribution can help support her cause.”
