Sachem girl helps students in need
Molly McHenry, a third-grader at Lynwood Avenue Elementary School in Farmingville, spearheaded a penny drive to help purchase new backpacks and school supplies for students in need. Credit: Sachem Central School District
A third-grader at a Farmingville school recently spearheaded a fundraising campaign that purchased two dozen backpacks filled with school supplies for students in need.
Molly McHenry, who attends Lynwood Avenue Elementary School, coordinated a penny drive in which she stationed collection boxes in about half-a-dozen local businesses, as well as at her school. She ultimately raised $525, which she and her mother, Jillian, used to buy the backpacks and supplies, ranging from binders to folders to pencils.
Molly, 8, got the idea while working on a reading comprehension assignment in the spring about a boy who had coordinated a penny drive fundraiser of his own.
"She turned to me and said, 'I want to do that,' " Jillian said. Of Molly's reaction to the amount of school supplies she was able to procure, Jillian said: "She couldn’t believe it. She was just beyond excited."
Lynwood Avenue's social worker, Cathy Rafferty, provided the McHenry family with a list of school supplies that would be useful to students, Jillian said. The family also created a Facebook page to help spread the world about Molly's efforts and a PayPal page to help collect additional donations.
Molly is also a member of Girl Scout Troop 1469, studies dance at Fusion Dance Force in Holbrook and participates in an after-school swim club through the Sachem Central School District.
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.
