PLYMOUTH, Minn.––Thirteen-year-old Peter received the top youth award from the General Commission on United Methodist Men for sleeping outside every Christmas season for the past eight years to raise money to combat homelessness.

Peter received a Good Samaritan Award during a Feb. 10 Scout Sunday service at Messiah UMC in Plymouth.

Over the past eight years, he has raised $50,000 for an inter-faith organization whose mission is to "identify and respond to the unmet basic needs of people in the community.”

Gleason Lake Elementary started the Sleep Out 11 years ago.

Peter is able to sleep outside in below freezing temperatures, thanks to the Boy Scout winter camping skills he learned in Troop 570.

During the 2007 sleepover, he was interviewed by a local television station.

The Good Samaritan Award was created by the Nashville-based General Commission on United Methodist Men to honor young people from 12 to 21 who demonstrate the attributes of the Good Samaritan described in Luke 10:25-37. Recipients must be a United Methodist or registered with a youth-serving agency related to a United Methodist Church. Recipients must be nominated by adults familiar with the youth’s service.

Do you know a young servant that deserves to be recogized? Then click here to view the Good Samaritan nomination form.

For information, contact Office of Civic Youth-Serving Agencies/Scouting, General Commission on United Methodist Men, P.O. Box 340006, Nashville, TN 37203-0006