ASHBURN — Caitlan “Katie Bear” Holmes, 8, is on her way to England in December to spread the charity she has given to the Turner County area to new levels.

Holmes is the youngest humanitarian in the area. She started at age six raising money and taking donations for teddy bears to give to the elderly. So far she has given away over 400 teddy bears and her hope is to place a bear in the arms of every elderly citizen.

She now sings at events to raise money for different charities and will be releasing a CD in the spring 2009 called, “Katie Are You Ready?”

Holmes has been so successful in her charities and her budding career as a recording artist that she has two investors, Pete Napoles from Orlando, Fla. and Elon Hershon from England who are helping her to further her musical aspirations.

Hershon first heard about Homles when Ashburn Mayor Jim Hedges presented a proclamation to Holmes declaring Caitlan "Katie Bear" Holmes Day in Ashburn. Hershon learned that Miss Holmes had been approached about signing record labels and felt that she was too young for that. Instead he has offered to fund her entirely and is sending her to England this December to appear on television and be heard on radio stations performing songs from her CD.

Holmes hopes to use the profits earned from her music to help fund her humanitarian efforts. While in the U.K. she also plans to give away teddy bears to the nursing homes and shelters there.

“She just can’t stop doing it, she can’t stop giving,” her grandmother, Edith Holmes, said.

Along with sending her to England, Hershon has also given her the equipment and a building to create her own recording studio, Kuumba Village.

She will be celebrating the grand opening of her studio with a fundraiser block party, The Katie Bear Celebration, beginning at 10 a.m. Nov. 1 at 113 West College Avenue. There will be many hip hop artists joining her on stage from Orlando, Fla., Atlanta and locally. Donations will be taken all day to go towards blankets and bears for the elderly, Feed the Children and Books and Toys for Africa’s Children as well as several local projects to benefit Turner County and its citizens.

To make donations or for more information, call at 457-0424.

To contact reporter Chivaun Perez, call 382-4321.