Move Over Shane Claiborne!

Move over, Shane, here comes Joshua:

Joshua Smith is a 9-year-old boy who gets things done. His home city of Detroit is currently suffering from serious financial hardship, preventing it from providing some basic services, like maintaining the city’s parks. Frustrated with being unable to play due to the amount of rubbish on the ground, Joshua decided to take things into his own hands. He set up a lemonade stand and started selling organic lemonade, fruit punch, water and popcorn in his Russell Woods neighborhood. In just one week, he has raised $3,000 for the city’s parks!

Over the past week, the young entrepreneur has been showered with awards and accolades for his outstanding achievement. In fact, last Friday the Rosa Parks Scholarship Foundation announced that when Joshua graduates high school, it will give him a $2,000 scholarship, as long as he graduates with a GPA of at least 2.5. Also flocking to Joshua’s cause is a volunteer group called theDetroit Mower Gang, who came into Joshua’s neighborhood Friday and mowed the two parks closest to his home with eight tractors and a dozen volunteers.

Three members of the University of Michigan basketball team also visited Joshua, giving him signed U-M swag and $20 for his cause. ”Seeing a 9-year-old try to make a difference in the city and clean up the parks and make the city look like a better place, it says a lot about the kid and the maturity he has at an early age,” said 6 foot 8 inch centre Jordan Morgan.

As for Joshua himself? It’s seems he is just as humble as he is resourceful: “I’m just getting a lot of support, and that makes me feel good,” he told the Detroit Free Press.