Way to go! Sunny Foglia, Westhampton Beach
Sunny Foglia, a senior at Westhampton Beach High School Credit: Westhampton Beach School District
A Westhampton Beach teenager’s efforts collecting clothing, toys and toiletries for developmentally disabled children has earned her a New York State Youth Leadership Award.
Sunny Foglia, a senior at Westhampton Beach High School, spearheaded the collection of more than 700 items last school year for children at the nonprofit Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York in Wading River.
Foglia, 17, said she started the effort after she was hurt while playing volleyball and sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“I decided I needed to find something to keep me busy while I recovered — something that would also benefit my neighbors and community,” Foglia said.
Assistant principal Bryan Bookamer nominated her for the award given by Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson).
Foglia’s collection, titled “Operation Shoe Box,” attracted donations through boxes set up at her school and at Island Bead & Jewelry in Eastport.
Foglia, vice president of her school’s Rotary Interact Club, said her efforts also inspired the Westhampton Rotary Club to donate a new 50-inch television to Little Flower.
She now is collecting clothing and toiletries for veterans at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook.
“Sunny is a great example for other students,” Bookamer said. “She is a leader athletically, within her classes and within the community.”
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.
