A young Sault Ste. Marie entrepreneur now has a bench named in his honour at the newly renamed Kiwanis Park, following a donation from his crayon-making charity to support the park's revitalization.
Calvin Trudelle, 10, responded to a call for donations two years ago while the park's upgrades were still in the planning stages. He put in $250 toward the project, just one of the charitable endeavours he has supported in recent years.
'I was eight when I made the donation and I'm 10 now," said an excited Calvin during the grand opening in May.
Calvin's donation was one of many that went toward revitalizing the park. In total, $280,406 was raised to support the installation of new playground equipment.
His charity, Calvin's Crayons, has been operating in the Sault for a few years. In 2022, when he was just seven years old, Calvin was featured in a SooToday article about his work.
"One year he donated a portion of his Valentine's Day sales to the cardiac program. We always try to find causes to donate to that he would be interested in, and obviously he loves playgrounds," said Calvin's mother Lindsay during the park's grand opening.
Calvin was able to sit on it for the very first time — about two years after he made the donation — when the newly renamed Kiwanis Park opened officially on May 14.
He was also asked to cut the ceremonial ribbon at the grand opening.
"I didn't know they were going to let him cut the ribbon," Lindsay said.
With help from his parents, Calvin melts down old crayons and hardens them into new shapes through the use of silicon moulds. The most popular moulds include letters for names, as well as unicorns, dinosaurs, robots and cars.
Calvin sells the creations at local craft fairs, as well as through his Facebook page.
— with files from Alex Flood