Caleb Powelson, 12, Wellsville, started the Bushels of Love Foundation charity.

Caleb Powelson is a 12-year-old kid from Wellsville who plays flag football and likes jumping on the trampoline in his big backyard.

What makes him above average is one idea: to start his own charity.

One Sunday in church, he grabbed a pamphlet to sponsor a child in Africa. This got him thinking about what he could do to help needy families. His mother and stepfather told him it would take a long time to raise money and his mind went another direction.

“I thought about how my dad was a farmer and he brought bushels of grain into the elevator,” Caleb said. His mother, Melissa, came up with the name Bushels of Love Foundation and the charity was born.

“I’m hoping for a lot of farmers out there to give a bushel of grain to our charity,” he said.

At first, his parents were a bit skeptical.

His dad, Royce, who farms corn, soybeans, hay and wheat, was worried about a 12-year-old boy taking on such a project, but he hopes that other groups will take the idea and run with it.

“It doesn’t just have to be about Caleb Powelson,” he said. “It can be about a good idea that’s shared to communities.”

Melissa said she even tried to stop Caleb from moving forward.

“Thank goodness he kept pushing me,” she said with a laugh.

And Caleb made it easy for farmers to donate.

“All you do is just take it to the nearest co-op or elevator and if they have the Bushels of Love Foundation setup, you can donate to that,” he said.

Melissa has been working to set up accounts with local elevators and has 19 places ready to take bushels for the foundation.

Plus, Royce says one bushel is a small price to pay for those in need.

“It’d be very minimal,” he said. “I think the average around here is 30 bushel beans and 125 bushel corn per acre, so it’d just be less than 1 percent of an acre.”

Caleb just hopes that when harvest comes around, farmers are able to give a bushel to his charity.

“If you donate a bushel to our foundation, think how many children you can save,” he said.

For more information, e-mail the foundation at bushelsoflove@yahoo.com.