Massapequa teen raises money for aid to Ukraine

Ryan Hirschhorn, 13, of Massapequa, turned a Valentine’s Day art project into three murals that has raised more than $35,000 for medical supplies for Ukraine.

Hirschhorn, a seventh-grader at Berner Middle School, said he began experimenting with his dad on a copper mural with carved-out hearts after he brought home a fourth-grade construction paper art project. Two years later, he transformed the mural with his father into a tribute to the people of Ukraine.

His original 4-foot by 8-foot mural and two others, the largest spanning 9 feet by 9 feet, are now on display through the rest of the month at the Long Island Children’s Museum in Garden City. He is collecting donations for Ukraine at the exhibit.

“I’m just a person who likes helping people,” he said. “I wanted to help people and do the right thing.”

Hirschhorn has shown off the mural at his former elementary school, at a Brooklyn Cyclones game and at the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage, where he held a fundraiser this past March with about 75 people and a raffle that drew $25,000 in donations.

He said they also hosted a Ukrainian family who spoke on video with their father who was still in Ukraine. Hirschhorn said he connected with one of the boys about his age.

“He said, ‘I didn’t know if I would wake up the next morning,'” Hirschhorn said the boy recalled of what it was like when he still lived in Ukraine. “I don’t think any 13-year-old boy should be saying that the next morning because of bombs falling.” 

After creating the first mural, Hirschhorn partnered with his father and an electrical engineer to add an LED light with an ultrasonic sensor that gets brighter as you approach the wall and fades when you walk away, to symbolize the war in Ukraine.

Hirschhorn was selected by the Long Island Children’s Museum as their monthly “AdvoKid,” which honors children in the community who have learned to stand up for themselves from bullying or advocated for others, the museum’s communication director Maureen Mangan said.

“It really is the idea that you can make a difference, what can I do and he decided how he can help,” she said. “It makes us all feel like we’re not doing enough.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.