Cool Kid Alberth Mimila is making a difference

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Our ABC7 Cool Kid for Thursday, Feb. 19 is Alberth Mimila, who helps build homes for families in need and teaches kids to skateboard.

"One person can make a huge difference," he says.

Mimila is making "that difference" working with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles and with the Action Sports Kids Foundation, but in life things have not always been that defined. When he was younger, Mimila found himself in some challenging situations. That all changed when his mother passed away from cancer.

"Ever since then, I've just been doing good and just trying my best because it's like why would I want to do bad when I can do good and make my mom happy when she's watching over me," Mimila said.

Whether he's helping others to build their homes or he's working on building his own home, Mimila impresses everyone.

"He's responsible, he's level-headed and he believes in helping others, and that's very rare and that's such a great quality for a young person to possess," said JoAnn Turman of Habitat for Humanity.

With the Action Sports Kids Foundation, Mimila gets a chance to share his love of skateboarding with kids and gets them involved, too.

"They basically give a time of period to kids to give back to the community," Mimila said. "We do cleanups. We host events at skate parks. We take them to Grand Prix."

Mimila has a solid plan for his future, which includes "going to college, studying different majors of art, like graphic design, just art, painting, tattoos."

"I already know that I'm still going to stay involved in the community," he said.

Mimila is making a difference, helping his family and the community around him.