Landon Garcia-Floyd

Name: Landon Garcia-Floyd

Age: 13

Family: Mother and father, Amy Garcia-Floyd and Clark Floyd; brother, Parker; and sister, Cooper.

Residence: Yuba City.

Occupation: Eighth-grade student at Franklin Elementary School.

How long have you lived in the Yuba-Sutter area? Born here.

Hobbies, interests: Playing all sorts of sports — basketball, baseball, football, soccer — plus dancing and chess.

For what groups do you volunteer? This is the second year I had a football game during Thanksgiving and asked my friends to bring canned food for the homeless.

I like to play football in the cold weather — I was thinking about football and about raising food for the community. We also put it on Facebook. Last year, we had 15 kids play; and this year, about 35 kids.

We donated the food to the Christian Assistance Network last year.

I was selected to be in the school's anti-bullying club in seventh grade for one year. They pick people who are leaders at the school. We learned how to prevent bullying, how to confront people bullying and how to help people being bullied.

I was also the student body council treasurer and am in the California Junior Scholastic Federation.

I just helped at a chess party held by my younger brother's friend, helping the kids play. I was on the chess team for six years and tried to pass my skills to the younger kids.

For our school, we've raised money to go on field trips and such; for the Regulators Baseball Club, we've had a spaghetti dinner and a car wash to raise money for uniforms and equipment.

We once had a lemonade stand to raise money for the troops.

I have done the Relay for Life since before I was born — mom was pregnant with me on the Relay — and I haven't missed one since. It's a family team.

This last June we also did "Paint Your Town Purple" and a car wash to raise awareness and support cancer research.

My parents have set the example for volunteering.

How do you fit volunteering into your schedule? I usually do things like the car wash on weekends and after school.

Words of advice: People can start volunteering at their school and help teachers. People can always make time to help the community. I'm busy a lot of the time, but I still give back.

Why be a volunteer? It's giving back to the community and making it a better place to live for everybody.

Quote: "My family does a lot of volunteering and I just like giving back to the community."