Don’t have enough time to volunteer? Don’t say that to Michael Brown.

Inspired by his own past, the Maritime entrepreneur is constantly on the move, running several businesses and volunteering or fundraising for Feed Nova Scotia, Junior Achievement, Abilities in Motion and Make-A-Wish.

“I own and operate three companies and I was a full-time student until I graduated in May from Saint Mary’s University and I always found time,” says Brown.

Brown says his single mother did the best she could but his family didn’t have a lot of money growing up in Amherst, N.S. Over the holidays they would get their Christmas meal from a food bank.

“We would run down the stairs and have turkey and all the fixings and things like that, so I remember that, growing up each year,” says Brown.

It wasn’t until Grade 3 that he came to realize just how much his mother had been struggling to provide for her family.

“And I went to school really excited wondering and asking friends ‘did your turkey box come?’ and that’s when I realized, because one of the students said ‘we don’t get one. You get one because you’re poor.’”

In 2012, Brown won the Frank Sobey Award for Excellence in Business and with it, a $15,000 prize. He says he knew right away that he wanted to use some of the money to help families like his.

“So I took $1,000 of that and took it to Feed Nova Scotia to donate for turkeys,” says Brown.

“The very moment he won that, he donated it back to Feed Nova Scotia and he’s been donating ever since,” says Nick Jennery, the executive director of Feed Nova Scotia.

“The experience he had as a child, it was like yesterday, and when he talked about getting the turkey box as he called it, this time of year, he knew it in vivid detail.”

Tom Kozloski, the associate dean of the Sobeys School of Business, says Brown is one of the school’s finest graduates.

“Really incredibly inspiring and jaw-dropping is the amount of accomplishment that he packs into any one day,” says Kozloski.

“Michael is the type of student, entrepreneur and community member we need in the Maritimes, you know, we need to grow our economy and develop opportunities for others and that’s exactly what he’s all about.”

Last year, Brown raised $5,500 for Feed Nova Scotia and he is back this season helping to raise money for those in need.

Jennery says Brown is an inspiration and has shared his personal story with staff.

“I said, this is the impact of what we do. It just gives you a clear sense of purpose,” says Jennery.

“What I enjoy is giving back,” says Brown. “I can’t really anticipate the joy that someone is going to have and when I see that interaction it just keeps pushing me to continue on.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jayson Baxter