They say an acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. In that case Ocean Chandler is quite the little nut and her mom, Willow, is a mighty impressive oak tree when it comes to being committed to making a difference in the community.

I first met Ocean when she was two and a half. She and her mom were planting flowers outside the House of Indigo, her mom's store on Fitzwilliam Street. At the time the building was in pretty bad shape but they were doing all they could between flowers, paint and collecting and hanging outdoor art to make it look good.

Like her mom, Ocean is an artsy, crafty person and totally committed to helping others whenever she can. When she was four, they started talking about creating a small space in the store where Ocean could sell her crafts to raise money for a good cause but Ocean couldn't decide what she wanted to support. Then she met her friend's grandmother who spends time every year volunteering at an orphanage in Uganda. She found her cause.

The next day she opened a lemonade stand in front of the store and over the next few days raised enough money to feed one orphan three meals a day for eight months. Not bad for a four year old.

Ocean has also learned a number of other talents from her mom including stilt walking and fire twirling. You should see her twirling with her burning hula hoop. She's always happy to donate her time and talents to a good cause and if it's a paying gig, she'll find some place to donate the proceeds.

Recently at one of the events she attended, she and some friends decided to pick a variety of herbs and make fine smelling sachets for sale. A few days later they turned up at the SPCA with a $70 donation.

This month Ocean's ninth birthday will also become a fundraiser for a good cause, the Georgia Strait Alliance. It started out as a back yard party but when singer/songwriters Corwin Fox and Shane Philip agreed to entertain, it quickly outgrew the back yard and turned into an all-day community event.

On Sunday August 31 they will organize a market on Pioneer Square from 10 am to 4 pm featuring music, a kid's craft area and a wide variety of sustainable products. The Georgia Strait Alliance will also organize a Toxic Smart Train the Trainer's course. Later in the evening Corwin and Shane will entertain at St. Paul's Church and Willow, Ocean and others will do some fire entertaining outside prior to the event.

All proceeds will go to support the Georgia Strait Alliance. For tickets contact Willow at the House of Indigo (250-754-1022).

As Ocean says, "Kids can't do everything and adults can't do everything either but we can all do small things that often make a big difference."

This kid is walking the talk and on top of that she's walking on stilts while hula hooping fire! I wonder what she will be doing when she's 29.