7-year-old raises tens of thousands for Haiti

A young British schoolboy has raised nearly 100,000 pounds ($160,000) for Haiti’s relief effort.

Seven-year-old Charlie Simpson was so upset by the devastating images of Haiti’s deadly earthquake that he asked his mother if she could help him set up a sponsored bicycle ride around his local park in west London.

Charlie originally hoped to raise 500 pounds ($800) for UNICEF’s Haiti appeal with Sunday’s 5-mile (8-kilometer) bike ride, but his Internet page was flooded with donations.

He raised nearly 50,000 pounds in a single day and money is still flooding in after Charlie’s story was splashed on the front page of Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper on Monday.

His mother Leonora Simpson says she can’t believe the public response.