They donate money they’ve earned so newborns leaving hospitals can have clothing, caps and booties. They walk dogs to raise money to build hospitals in other countries. They participate in walk-a-thons so children won’t go hungry. They make blankets for children who are taken into protective custody. And they pack medical supplies and clothing to be sent to countries ravaged by war.Meet Joshua Watson, Shriya Joshi, Patrick Todd, Alexandra Taleisnik and Faisal Abu-Shamsieh — all central San Joaquin Valley children who are in kindergarten through sixth grade.

They are doing a lot of good things for others, driven by loved ones setting good examples — and by their faith.

Joshua, Shriya, Patrick, Alexandra and Faisal come from homes practicing Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism or Islam. And despite other differences, the world’s religions share common teachings on caring for and helping others, particularly the disadvantaged.

Evangelist Billy Graham wrote in a June article on billygraham.org that children go about their good deeds in humble and quiet ways: “A little child is innocent. A little child is trusting. A little child is simple.”

Now that summer is upon us and many kids have a lot of time on their hands, here’s a look at what some are doing.

Helping to clothe newborns

Joshua Watson, 5, earns quarters for feeding the family’s dogs, Leia and Lucy, and the cat, Mazie, and for helping in grandmother Pam Watson’s tomato garden at their Clovis home. But he never spends anything.

“He’s a good little boy,” Watson says.

Instead, he puts the quarters in paper rolls and donates them every Sunday at Quail Lake Community Church in Clovis, an evangelical congregation where he and his grandmother worship.

The quarters always go to Littlest Angels, a ministry that collects or buys new clothing, caps, booties, blankets and accessories for newborns who might not otherwise receive them. Joshua will enter kindergarten at Quail Lake Elementary School in August.

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