Jonah Larson taught himself to crochet when he was 5. When crocheting, a crafter uses a hooked needle to make a series of loops of yarn into a fabric. Now 12, the eighth-grader from La Crosse, Wisconsin, has made hundreds of colorful creations. He likes the repetitive motion of crocheting. “It’s very calming,” he says. Jonah sells his crafts and teaches others to crochet on his website, Jonah’s Hands.

He uses the proceeds from Jonah’s Hands to help kids in the Ethiopian community where he was born. Jonah partnered with the nonprofit organization Roots Ethiopia to build a library and a science lab there. “It makes you feel so good, it makes you want to give more,” Jonah says of his philanthropic work. “It’s really a good cycle.”