When people see Michael Munds, they sometimes stare. Some kids even tease him. Michael looks different; the bones in his face don’t fit together like other people’s do. He’s been in the hospital many, many times, and he will have to go many more times before he’s grown. Each time he goes, the doctors fit his eyes, ears, nose or chin into the right place so that he looks more like other people.

Michael could hide from people and feel sorry for himself. But he doesn’t. He spends his time helping other people who have problems.

When he was five, he saw a little girl on television who couldn’t go to sleep because she’d lost her teddy bear in a flood. Michael packed up his own stuffed animals and donated them to kids who had lost theirs in the flood.

When he heard about a bombing in Oklahoma City that killed and injured hundreds of people, Michael was about to go back to the hospital for another operation that would help him look like other kids.

But he thought about all the people who were in the hospital in Oklahoma and he decided to raise money for them. He asked his mother if he could wait awhile before his operation and she said yes.

Michael didn’t have any money, so he made a plan to get some. He would invite people to bowl, his favorite game. Then he’d ask other people to give money for every bowling pin that was knocked down. He told his mother he would raise $20,000 dollars this way, and send the money to the injured people in Oklahoma.

His mom said that was too much. He was just six years old and $20,000 was a lot of money. She said he should try for just $10,000. Michael said it had to be $20,000. But when they made a poster telling people about the bowling event, his mom put just five thousand as the goal. Michael insisted that he could raise $20,000. His grandfather asked him if he had any idea how much money that was. Michael told him, “There are enough good people out there. I know I’ll get it.”

Michael knocked on people’s doors and asked them to help. He went into offices and stores, asked to see the boss, and explained why the business should help. He talked to city officials, to newspaper and television reporters, and many, many other people about his idea. But he didn’t raise $20,000. He raised $37,649! It was the most money raised by anybody in the whole country, young or old, to help the people in Oklahoma.

As soon as he finished that campaign, Michael began raising money for a girl who needed an operation on her heart and for people with AIDS. He’s raised more money than anybody else in his state for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Michael knows a lot about hurting. But he’s learned a lot about feeling good, too. When someone asks him why he spends so much time helping other people, Michael tells them he feels great when he does this. “If we all make a difference—even a little bit—one person at a time, then maybe when I grow up the world will be a better place to live. But we have to start now.”