Meet the 9-year-old who's sewing beautiful bags for L.A.'s homeless women.
Khloe wants each woman to have 'a nice sturdy bag that they can have forever.'
Meet Khloe Thompson.
Khloe is a 9-year-old from Southern California who noticed something that didn't feel right to her.
\n\n"I would pass the same homeless people all the time on my way to school," Khloe explained to Upworthy. "And I would ask my mom, 'What can I do to help?'"
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSo she and her mom came up with a plan.
Khloe launched her own charity initiative, Khloe Kares, and hands out bags filled with important items to the homeless women she sees around town.
Stuffed with items like deodorant, soap, lotion, feminine products, and socks, Khloe's Kare Bags are helping many of the most vulnerable residents in her community.
\n\n“[The women] react, like, really happy," Thompson said on the talk show "The Real." "And they give me hugs and say, 'thank you.'"
Photo courtesy of Alisha Thompson, used with permission.
The Kare Bags aren't your average plastic pouches either. With help from her grandma, Khloe sews each bag.
She wants each woman to have "a nice sturdy bag that they can have forever," after all.
A photo posted by Khloe (@khloekares) on
In a county grappling to curb its alarmingly high rate of homelessness, every one of Khloe's bags is making a meaningful difference.
Khloe's compassion has been contagious among some of her classmates as well, who've pitched in to help the cause.
“They thought I was, like, the class superstar," Thompson explained of her friends' reactions to her work.
The Kare Bags are just the start of something special. Thompson wants to grow her charity work to have an even bigger reach.
Photo courtesy of Alisha Thompson, used with permission.
Although it's still in the planning stages, Thompson is hoping to throw "a huge event" this summer that will provide toys to homeless kids living in shelters.
"No dream is too small or too big," Khloe wrote on her website. "I want to inspire other kids to be great and to make your mark on this earth."
Keep up the incredible work, Khloe. You're changing lives every single day.
To learn more and support Khloe Kares' initiatives, you can check out her GoFundMe campaign.
Check out Business Insider's video on Khloe below:
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."