East Islip student helps Make-A-Wish
Kaylee Norton, a freshman at East Islip High School, collected 1,688 letters to Santa as part of Macy's "Believe" letter-writing campaign. She was honored last month by East Islip School District's Board of Education. Credit: East Islip School District
An East Islip High School student helped make the holidays a little brighter for children with critical illnesses.
Kaylee Norton, a freshman, collected 1,688 letters to Santa as part of Macy's "Believe" letter-writing campaign. For each letter, Macy's donated $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1 million.
Norton said she was inspired to collect the letters because the foundation previously granted wishes for her older brothers Kyle and Ryan, who have atypical cystic fibrosis. The two-week collection was open to students and staff in the six schools within the East Islip School District, she said.
"I just felt the need to give back to the foundation, because they have helped my family," said Norton, 14, who was honored for her efforts at the district's Board of Education meeting Feb. 13. "I felt like it was something I needed to do."
Norton's other volunteer efforts have included participating in her family's annual holiday toy drive, which resulted in about 4,000 toys over the past five years going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In addition, she has worked in the soup kitchen at St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in Brentwood.
Norton is also a member of her school's stage crew, choir and Drama Club.
"She's a fantastic young lady who I think is going to change the world," East Islip Superintendent John Dolan said.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
