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(NEW YORK) — Sal, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee, was going through a difficult time in his life when he first started at the agency. His mother was being physically abused by her partner, he said — and that was the tipping point.

“So one day at work … I’m just pacing back and forth and I have a miserable look on my face,” Sal, who was not identified by his last name, said during a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) podcast in September 2021. “And someone overheard me say, ‘I want to eat my own gun.'”

His life was saved, he recalled, after a coworker noticed that he wasn’t doing well and called to check in on him. His supervisors came to his apartment and made the decision to take his firearm away, helping him get the help he needed.

He was put on light duty and was able to attend counseling sessions, with people who checked in on him regularly, he said.

On the CBP podcast, Sal said that he and others worried their personal struggles could be a professional liability.

“The big thing is a lot of officers, they think that if they get depressed or they’re going through a difficult time that they can lose their job or that they’re going to be embarrassed,” he said. “And the entire time, that wasn’t the case. If anything, my situation got 10 times better at work because of this.”

He called it a “silver lining.”

“You’re not going to lose your job because you’re going through a difficult time. And there is nothing to be embarrassed about because, I don’t care how much money you have or what your job is or, you know, anything that you do in life — everybody gets depressed. Whether you’re the president of the United States, the biggest rock star in the world, you’re a surgeon. It doesn’t matter,” he said last year. “Everybody gets depressed.”

Though Sal was saved from his crisis, this year saw the most Customs and Border Protection agents die by suicide since 2009 — a total of 14.

CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner Benjamine “Carry” Huffman told ABC News the situation was “concerning” and that he believes there isn’t one factor that’s contributing to the increase in suicides.

Both he and a doctor at the agency, however, highlighted problems with stigma around mental health and the need to encourage officers to get help.

“Law enforcement is a challenging profession,” Huffman said.

“The things that we face and things that we do on a day-to-day basis, that we ask our workforce to do, is very difficult. Whatever crisis the nation is facing, we face it first. Whether it’s this big surge of migrants, whether it’s dealing with the first contact with people with COVID or other disease or whatever is going on. We’re the ones that come see it first, and those things are all contributing factors,” he said.

Huffman said the agency is hoping to destigmatize seeking help when people aren’t feeling well enough to work, including if they are dealing with mental health issues — the very outreach that Sal said last year had helped him. Huffman said he has held 60 town halls over the past year with the CBP workforce.

“We have a culture of toughness,” he explained. “We ask our people to do dangerous things in dangerous places, go places where other people won’t go, do things they won’t do to keep Americans safe.”

The downside, he said, is that sometimes that toughness “deters” people from reaching out — something he said he is trying to change. When an agent breaks their leg or gets a physical injury, they go on leave to get better; and Huffman said there is no difference with mental health.

“If you have some sort of a mental crisis, we need to change the culture where we have that same thought process: You get the help you need to get it fixed, you get back from job and you’re good to go,” he said. “That’s the message we’re trying to say is it’s no different between those things — getting a physical injury or a mental injury — and treat them the same way and just have that same acceptance of your peers.”

The way the agency handled such issues in the past, he said, sometimes made the situation worse. Now, though, officials are trying to empower their officers.

Huffman said the influx of migrants along the southwest border isn’t going to impact the way CBP handles officer suicides, and they are offering the same help as they did before.

CBP is one of the only federal law enforcement agencies to have a suicidologist on staff. His name is Dr. Kent Corso.

“Culture change is by far the biggest challenge,” Corso told ABC News. “And some of the things we’re doing about that [are] we are hiring over a dozen operational psychologists. So these are specialists who are there to help consult with management, with employees. We have a new process in place, a policy that has come out of the commissioner’s office, that teaches managers how to slow the process down.”

When new recruits are at the academy, CBP officials work to make sure to let them know that it is OK to not be OK — part of the shift Corso and Huffman talked about.

Corso said the work environment is contributing to some of the challenges officers are facing.

“The last few years have been unprecedented,” he said, adding, “There are many changes going on. There is high unpredictability. And what we know from the psychology research is that when things become less predictable — that is to say, people perceive less control — it’s just more stressful. Add on to that the idea that everybody’s watching the border, it’s a bit of a fishbowl, if you will, that just makes things difficult.”

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(NEW YORK) — An American woman held in captivity in a Russian prison for most of this year says she was assaulted by an inmate and left without contact to the outside world.

“Nobody ever came,” Sarah Krivanek said.

Krivanek, who spoke to ABC News in an exclusive sit-down interview this week, was released Dec. 8, the same day that WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from Russian captivity.

She said she is suffering PTSD and malnourishment she endured but had to check herself into a local hospital upon arrival back home. She is currently working with a trauma specialist.

In a statement to ABC News, the State Department said, “The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.”

The statement added, “U.S. Embassy Moscow provided assistance on the case of U.S. citizen Sarah Krivanek for more than a year. We monitored the case throughout the process, including attending deportation hearings. We coordinated with Russian authorities to facilitate Ms. Krivanek’s safe return to the United States.”

Krivanek disputes that claim and says that she was put on a commercial flight by deportation center agents from Russia and had to sign paperwork that required her to repay the U.S. government for the travel costs. She said she was given only $100 in cash and was forced to travel alone. She also said she didn’t hear from anyone from the U.S. government throughout her imprisonment and after her arrest at the airport only met officials in her single deportation hearing.

Becoming a ‘sacrifice’

Krivanek, 46, had moved to Russia in 2017 to teach English. Fluent in both languages, she said she ended up enjoying a successful career teaching at elite schools in Moscow. Following a broken wedding engagement, she briefly lived with roommates, one of whom was a man who Krivanek said beat her. In December 2021, she was arrested and detained for attacking him with a knife that she said she used to defend herself.

A trial in February without a jury resulted in a 15-month sentence to a Russian penal colony, a verdict even her attorney told her was extreme for the circumstances, she said. Krivanek said she believes she became “a sacrifice” for the Russians to use to send a warning to the U.S. about intervening in the conflict.

“I just fell into the system… at the wrong time,” she said. “Because it came on the heels of starting a war with Ukraine, they used this as leverage.”

Vanquished hope

In the penal colony, located in the remote Oblast region of Russia, Krivanek said she faced harsh conditions: The colony consisted of “old, run-down buildings from the Stalin era” where she said she was forced to work in an asbestos-laden factory.

There, she sewed fake flowers for use in cemeteries. Because the factory lacked air conditioning, a guard broke windows for ventilation in the summer. A small heater warmed the workers in the fall and winter months. She subsided on a diet of cabbage and bread, she said.

Being an American, she said, often made her a target among prison officials and other inmates. She said she witnessed sex trafficking, drug use and gambling throughout her entire stay.

Blocked from using the official prison phone system, Krivanek said she used a smuggled cell phone to call the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. She said her seven-minute call was redirected to Washington where she told an operator her name and where she was located. The signal was lost immediately afterward.

“After that, I just had to pray and just hope that I had given them enough information to find me,” she said.

“I didn’t have anybody. No phone calls. No nothing. I’m left completely alone,” he said.

Watching an abduction

Krivanek’s situation eventually earned the attention of Russia Behind Bars, an activist group based in England that attempted to deliver items like clothing, toothpaste and soap. Representatives from the group tried to visit her, and during both visits, they were not allowed to see Krivanek in person, she said. Connecting the organization to Krivanek was Anita Martinez, whose friendship with Krivanek dates to 2008.

Martinez, who lives outside Fresno, California, was also the last person to talk with her friend, having watched Krivanek get arrested on camera by Russian authorities when both women were on a FaceTime conversation together.

“I froze. I didn’t know what to do. I was literally in a store in Fresno… and I’m standing in the store in shock,” Martinez said. “I thought, ‘did she just get kidnapped? Like, what did I just see?'”

Martinez said she then began a long and difficult effort to get her friend released, which included contacting the embassy in Moscow, the State Department, and activist and media organizations. She said a State Department official told her that they were aware of Krivanek’s location and were working on her release, but that they could not give her details because she didn’t have permission from Krivanek to allow them to speak to her.

“No one would tell me anything,” she said.

‘They found me’

The adjustment back to life in the U.S. has been difficult for both women. Krivanek said she is suffering from PTSD and is also dealing with the loss of her father who died when she was in Russia. She is now living with Martinez who said she was unprepared, financially and emotionally, to help her friend make the successful transition she needs to move forward in her life.

A GoFundMe account has been established to help Krivanek pay back the U.S. government loan, and Martinez has been helping her get medical care and therapy.

Krivanek said she owes her friend her freedom: “Anita’s just tough as nails. I knew that nobody could walk all over her and that if she had her mind set to something, she was going to get it.”

Nine months after her arrest, on Sept. 1, Krivanek received an email in prison that changed her life. It was from Martinez, asking about her condition.

“I was just about to give up,” Krivanek said. “And I got that letter and freaked out. I’m like, ‘they found me. They found me.'”

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(NEW YORK) — On July 6 of this year, Detroit police officer Loren Courts responded to a call for a shooting on Marlowe Street. When police arrived, the 19-year-old suspect shot and killed Courts while he was arriving in his cruiser, according to police.

At his memorial service, Courts, whose father was a retired Detroit Police Department officer, was lauded for his work.

“He was the person others leaned on and sought for advice. He had a calming influence within the precinct and on the street. I do not ever recall seeing him rattled or not on point,” one of his fellow officers said, according to local reports. “He was a consummate professional who was the epitome of what a Detroit police officer should be.”

Courts was one of the 323 police officers shot in the line of duty this year, according to statistics released by the National Fraternal Order of Police, one of the largest police unions in the country, on Wednesday.

The numbers are up 7% from 2020 and 13% from 2019, according to the FOP. In total, 60 law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in 2022, the FOP reports. The numbers are down from 2021, however, which was a record-breaking year.

“Last year we saw more officers shot in the line of duty than any other since the National Fraternal Order of Police began recording this data in late 2015, and this year is not far behind,” FOP President Patrick Yoes said in a statement. “If these violent criminals are willing to commit brazen acts of violence against the men and women of law enforcement, we can’t begin to fathom what heinous acts they are willing to commit against law-abiding citizens. As crime rates continue to rise, more citizens in this country are justifiably living in fear, constantly wondering if they too will become a victim.”

Texas, followed by Arizona, Georgia and California, had the most officers shot in 2022.

“Every felonious attack on a law enforcement officer, especially by gunfire, is disturbing regardless of the circumstances,” the report said.

Of concern, the union said, 124 law enforcement officers were shot in “ambush” style attacks, which lead to more than half the deaths in 2022. The union said the year-end report will be released in mid-January.

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(SAN ANTONIO) — One year after Lina Sardar Khil’s disappearance, the San Antonio Police Department has released more surveillance footage of the day the now 4-year-old went missing.

The new video, captured on a resident’s security camera, shows Lina playing with her mother and brother on the Villas del Cabo apartment complex playground where she was last seen on Dec. 20, 2021 until she eventually walks out of frame.

Police say this is the last known sighting on video of her.

One year and hundreds of leads later, Lina’s whereabouts are still unknown, police said in a video posted Tuesday.

“There are suspicious circumstances based on the child’s age, the fact that we have not found any evidence to indicate where she’s at other than where she was last at,” Detective German Fuentes said in the video.

“We’ve received hundreds of leads that we have followed up on,” lead detective Jeremy Volz added. “We’ve partnered with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to follow up on all the leads. Unfortunately, none of the leads we have received have led us to finding Lina.”

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Lina Sardar Khil. This video highlights the investigative efforts, agencies and the communities help that have gone into this year-long investigation.

FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/6uvjw6rIMm pic.twitter.com/0m9lBHI84K

— San Antonio PD (@SATXPolice) December 20, 2022

Lina was last seen at a park on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio between 4:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m., according to police. The park is near the family’s home at the Villa Del Cabo apartment complex.

Lina has brown eyes and straight, brown hair, and was last seen wearing a black jacket, red dress and black shoes, according to police.

Lina’s family is part of an Afghan refugee community in San Antonio. They arrived in the United States in 2019 and speak Pashto.

As the San Antonio Police Department Special Victims Unit continues its investigation, community members continue searches of their own in hopes to get closer to finding the toddler as her fifth birthday on Feb. 20 approaches.

Crime Stoppers of San Antonio is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in Lina’s disappearance. The Islamic Center of San Antonio is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to Lina.

“Until she’s found, no person and no theory can be ruled out on what happened to her,” Volz said.

SAPD stated in a release that anyone with any information on Lina’s case can contact the department’s missing person’s unit at 210-207-7660 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — A Black Army veteran allegedly beaten by Colorado Springs police during an October traffic stop has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the three officers involved in the encounter.

The lawsuit alleges CSPD officers Colby Hickman, Matthew Anderson and Christopher Hummel violated Dalvin Gadson’s Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force. Each defendant also failed to intervene in preventing the other defendants in using excessive force against Gadson, according to the lawsuit.

At the time of the Oct. 9 encounter, Gadson, a 29-year-old Army veteran, was homeless, living out of his car as he ran a business selling electronics.

“I was taking all my money from DoorDash, literally, and putting it into my business,” Gadson told ABC Denver affiliate KMGH.

Gadson said it felt like “paradise” to be self-sufficient as he saved up his earnings to eventually afford an apartment.

But everything changed the night of Oct. 9 when a CSPD officer pulled Gadson over, telling him it was for a missing license plate, bodycamera footage released by the Colorado Springs Police Department shows.

After taking Gadson’s driver’s license, the officers can be heard in the video discussing a knife they noticed in Gadson’s cupholder. They also described smelling cannabis coming from his vehicle.

When they return to Gadson’s car, telling him he’s under arrest for a DUI, Gadson responds saying, “no I’m not” and backs into his car. From there, the situation escalates with the officers grabbing Gadson to pull him outside of the vehicle and throwing punches at him.

“It turned into the worst nightmare I could ever imagine,” Gadson said.

CSPD said in a statement that its Internal Affairs division opened an ongoing investigation into the arrest but noted that a separate administrative review found that the officers’ use of force was in line with department policy.

“Mr. Gadson refused to exit the vehicle,” the statement says. “When officers attempted to pull Mr. Gadson from the vehicle he physically fought with officers and on more than one instance re-entered the vehicle in the area of the knife.”

Anderson, one of the officers named in the lawsuit, was previously named in a federal civil rights complaint in 2020 for allegedly wrongfully arresting and using excessive force against a man by wrenching his arm after the man made an obscene gesture. The case was dismissed in 2021.

The officers named in the lawsuit could not immediately be reached for comment. The police department declined ABC News’ request for comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.

Gadson was originally charged with two counts of second-degree assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing a peace officer, driving under the influence, and driving without license plates. Both assault charges were dropped, and the DUI charge was dismissed in a DMV hearing, his attorneys said.

“If you look at the video, Dalvin is laying on that cupholder. He’s lying on that panel with the knife,” Harry Daniels, Gadson’s attorney, said in an interview with KMGH. “If somebody is beating the hell out of you, I would hope you try to stop them beating the hell out of you. And I mean, try and stop and cover up. That’s not resistant, that’s what we call survival.”

Gadson suffered eye injuries, a ruptured eardrum, and PTSD after the incident, Daniels said. At one point in the video, Gadson is seen lying on the pavement in a pool of blood. Additional photos of Gadson at the hospital also show visible lacerations and contusions on his body as well as his swollen face.

“If you’ve ever been punched in the eye multiple times, it literally sends you unconscious. You can’t see. You can’t hear for some reason,” Gadson said. “I’m looking at my blood on the asphalt and I felt the punches in my face.”

“Sometimes, I just cry watching [the body camera video],” Gadson added. “I have to watch it alone with nobody watching me because it is heartbreaking to even know that that was me that went through this.”

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(NEW YORK) — Alleged New York City subway shooter Frank James wants to plead guilty to federal terrorism charges, his attorneys said Wednesday in a letter to the court.

James, who was charged last week in a superseding indictment with 10 counts of committing a terror attack on a mass transit system, was accused of opening fire on a Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn on April 12.

Ten people were hurt in a shooting that prosecutors said terrorized the city. James was caught after initially escaping in the chaotic aftermath of the train pulling into the 36th Street station in Sunset Park.

“Mr. James has advised undersigned counsel that he wishes to schedule a guilty plea to the superseding indictment. If the Court is available, we wish to proceed during the first week of January 2023,” the defense letter said.

The court has scheduled a change of plea hearing for Jan. 3.

The superseding indictment charges James with 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and vehicle carrying passengers and employees — one count for each injured passenger. He was also charged with a count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

James had previously been charged with a single terrorism offense to which he pleaded not guilty.

James “terrifyingly opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way this City hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik said when James first appeared in court. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated; it was carefully planned; and it caused terror among the victims and our entire City.”

The shooting, which took place during a Tuesday morning commute, set off a 24-hour search for the gunman. The following day, several callers to the New York Police Department tipline said a man matching the description of the shooter was wandering around the Lower East Side and East Village. James himself also called the tip line to turn himself in.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear, but authorities have said James posted a number of “race-based grievances and conspiracy theory narratives” on social media.

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(NEW YORK) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and the co-founder of FTX have each pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with prosecutors, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Wednesday.

Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s privately-controlled hedge fund, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty earlier this week, according to newly unsealed court documents.

Ellison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research and wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the court documents.

Together, the seven counts carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

Wang pleaded guilty to four counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, the court documents stated. He faces up to 50 years in prison.

Wang’s attorney, Ilan Graff, who is a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, said in a statement: “Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness.”

Word of the guilty pleas and cooperation agreements came after Bankman-Fried took off from the Bahamas aboard a U.S. government plane flying to New York, where he is expected to be arraigned Thursday on an eight-count indictment that charges him with orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.

Williams made the announcement in a videotaped message shared with ABC News.

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(DETROIT) — On July 6 of this year, Detroit police officer Loren Courts responded to a call for a shooting on Marlowe Street. When police arrived, the 19-year-old suspect shot and killed Courts while he was arriving in his cruiser, according to police.

At his memorial service, Courts, whose father was a retired Detroit Police Department officer, was lauded for his work.

“He was the person others leaned on and sought for advice. He had a calming influence within the precinct and on the street. I do not ever recall seeing him rattled or not on point,” one of his fellow officers said, according to local reports. “He was a consummate professional who was the epitome of what a Detroit police officer should be.”.

Courts was one of the 323 police officers shot in the line of duty this year, according to statistics released by the National Fraternal Order of Police, one of the largest police unions in the country, on Wednesday.

The numbers are up 7% from 2020 and 13% from 2019, according to the FOP. In total, 60 law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in 2022, the FOP reports. The numbers are down from 2021, however, which was a record-breaking year.

“Last year we saw more officers shot in the line of duty than any other since the National Fraternal Order of Police began recording this data in late 2015, and this year is not far behind,” FOP President Patrick Yoes said in a statement. “If these violent criminals are willing to commit brazen acts of violence against the men and women of law enforcement, we can’t begin to fathom what heinous acts they are willing to commit against law-abiding citizens. As crime rates continue to rise, more citizens in this country are justifiably living in fear, constantly wondering if they too will become a victim.”

Texas, followed by Arizona, Georgia and California, had the most officers shot in 2022.

“Every felonious attack on a law enforcement officer, especially by gunfire, is disturbing regardless of the circumstances,” the report said.

Of concern, the union said, 124 law enforcement officers were shot in “ambush” style attacks, which lead to more than half the deaths in 2022. The union said the year-end report will be released in mid-January.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A woman who allegedly stole a car in Columbus, Ohio, with twin babies inside has been charged with two counts of kidnapping as the FBI joined a massive multi-state search for her and one of the missing infants police suspect is still in her possession.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said at a news conference Wednesday evening that detectives have found no trace of the suspect Nalah Jackson, 24, or the kidnapped 5-month-old baby, Kason Thomass, since early Tuesday morning when Jackson was allegedly caught on surveillance video abandoning Kason’s twin at the Dayton International Airport.

The search for Kason, who was last seen wearing a brown onesie, was launched Monday night after he and his twin brother, Kyair, went missing when Jackson, homeless woman, allegedly stole their mom’s running car. The twins were inside the vehicle as their mom stepped away to pick up a food order, police said.

Kyair Thomass was found around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday abandoned at the Dayton International Airport, more than 70 miles from Columbus, which a deputy police chief called, “a troubling aspect of this case.”

Bryant said two counts of kidnapping were filed against Jackson late Tuesday.

She said the FBI is assisting in the search for the suspect and Kason, providing personnel and technology.

She pleaded with the public Wednesday to come forward with any information no matter how small it may seem.

Bryant said the search has been expanded to five states surrounding Ohio.

Wednesday’s news conference came about 24 hours after Bryant made a direct appeal for Jackson to surrender the baby, saying, “we’re begging you to please return Kason.”

Surveillance images released by police captured Jackson at a gas station in the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights early Tuesday morning driving the stolen black 2010 Honda Accord. In a statement posted on Twitter, police said that while at the gas station, Jackson asked an employee for money.

Columbus Deputy Chief Smith Weir said Jackson was captured on the gas station’s surveillance cameras shortly before additional security video showed her dropping off Kyair at the Dayton airport.

Weir said several witnesses who encountered Jackson at the airport said she asked to borrow their cellphones to make a call.

He said it was “troubling aspect” that Jackson would leave one of the babies but keep the other.

“It’s perplexing as to why that would be,” Weir said. “Obviously we could all let our imaginations run wild, but we have to deal with what the facts are, and the facts are we’re still looking for one child.”

Bryant said the incident unfolded about 9:45 p.m. Monday while Kyair and Kason were alone in the Honda Accord their mother left running after stopping a Donatos Pizza restaurant in the Short North Arts District of northeast Columbus to pick up a Door Dash order.

The mother’s car was stolen soon after she went into the restaurant, police said. When the mother turned to look at her car from inside the restaurant, she noticed it was gone along with her twin babies, police said.

Bryant said witnesses told police that Jackson was seated inside the restaurant when the mother walked in.

The car has not been located and Bryant said it remained unclear if the suspect dumped the vehicle somewhere or was still driving it.

An Amber Alert was issued by the state Highway Patrol around 1:37 a.m. Tuesday. Police said the delay in issuing the alert was due to the stolen vehicle, which the mother recently purchased, not having license plates.

Bryant said at least 60 Columbus police officers have been assigned to the case and other law enforcement agencies were assisting in the search for the child. The chief said officers checked multiple residences around Columbus where Jackson once lived and searched several homeless encampments in Columbus she has been known to frequent.

Weir said he is worried about Kason’s well-being, saying, “We consider this child to be in danger.”

“This is a cry for help,” Weir said. “We’re asking the community to come forward and help us find this child.”

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(NEW YORK) — For the second year in a row, a 12-year-old Boy Scout has turned into secret Santa, buying Christmas presents for over a hundred children in foster care and shelters who might not otherwise get to enjoy the holiday season.

Jonathan Werner said he was inspired to carry out his philanthropy project after hearing about his father’s own childhood experience in foster care.

“Based upon stories that I have from him, it didn’t really sound like they had much of a Christmas,” he told “Good Morning America.”

“I was in foster care from the time that I was five to [when] I got adopted at about 12, so like seven years of my childhood and I don’t remember my Christmases ever really being very special until after I was adopted,” Jonathan’s dad, Steven Kolk, told “GMA.” “So having him do a project like this and knowing that where I was those years, I could have had somebody like [Jonathan], it would have been really special.”

This year, 138 children across four Minnesota counties – Kanabec, Isanti, Pine and Chisago counties – as well as some children in part of Anoka County will receive basic necessities and personal care items some requested and gift cards and toys Jonathan selected for them. He chose the items on multiple shopping trips based on lists that local social workers he partnered with would share with him to help guide the process.

“For example, if the kid had asked for a Lego set of some sort, we would go off of age and gender and then we would buy a Lego set for them and based upon other interests, we would also try to find a Lego set that also intertwines with those interests as well,” Jonathan said.

The seventh-grader said he bought about 600 presents overall, totaling approximately $11,300.

To fund the gifts, he sold popcorn to local community members and this year, he made more than he was expecting.

MORE: Boy Scouts jump into action after Amtrak derailment: ‘We’re really proud’
But throughout the journey, Jonathan said he’s simply happy to give back.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot throughout this. I’ve learned money management. I’ve learned other things of that nature as well. It also makes me really happy to know that kids that wouldn’t really get a Christmas are getting a Christmas because of my project,” Jonathan said.

His parents say they couldn’t be more impressed.

“I’m proud of what he chose to do and the number of people that he can reach with this project,” Steven Kolk told “GMA.”

“It’s really special. I have seen it move not even myself, it has inspired me personally. But I’ve also seen it inspire our other children and friends of ours and other people in the community at the stores and things like that and so it’s really special. It really brings a tear to your eye and makes you feel like he’s really making a difference for people,” Serena Kolk added.

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