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National | Charity

He whakaaro rangatira - Shem Perkins' kind gesture

Shem Perkins, mokopuna of well-known reggae artist, the late Carl Perkins, touched the hearts of thousands this weekend after a video of him giving back to those in need surfaced.

After driving past a group of homeless people with dogs, he took it upon himself to buy some kai to share with them. 

His father, Te Omeka Perkins of reggae group House Of Shem says, "He definitely softens my heart because I was getting angry because he was crying quite heavily.  So I was just asking him 'why are you crying?  Who cares?' - I didn't mean it like that, I was just saying 'you got to carry on'.  Shem says 'I saw some dogs back there and I wanted to feed them'."

After crying as we drove past the homeless people and their dogs, Shem made me take him to the supermarket to get some dog food and snacks and drinks for their caregivers 😥 that cry def changed my heart

Posted by Shem Perkins on Friday, May 17, 2019

Te Omeka says Shem didn't undertake the gesture for attention, but rather because he was naturally a kind and caring boy.

"That's just really from the bottom of his heart because he is a shy boy," he says "But he inspired me to be more thoughtful.  You don't often see a 9-year-old boy wanting to do a kind gesture, they're all stuck in the digital world, playing Fortnite.  It just touched my heart."
 
The video has over 85,000 views and has had more than four thousand reactions on Facebook.