Real can-do attitude on display

Residents of Hudson Falls recently learned firsthand the meanings of "community spirit" and "Love thy neighbor as thyself." The lesson came from two girls who decided to help a sick friend and her family.

"What they did was perform a Corporal Work of Mercy," said Sandra Monahan, pastoral associate for faith formation and youth ministry at St. Mary/St. Paul's parish in Hudson Falls.

She was referring to the Root sisters -- Kristen, 11, and Leah, 7 -- who are enrolled in the parish's religious education program.

Can-do spirit

The two sisters recently spearheaded a campaign to raise money for Leah's friend, Emily, 7, who suffered a serious stroke and spent some time in a rehabilitation facility in the Capital Region.

Her family was making several daily trips back and forth from Hudson Falls to be with her during her initial recovery. (She is now back at home but still receives regular outpatient therapy at Glens Falls Hospital.)

Betsy Root, the girls' mother, said that her daughters expressed concern for Emily and her family because they had to do so much traveling. One afternoon, Leah and Kristen were in the car with their mother when she stopped to get gas.

"After I filled the tank, I said that gasoline was getting expensive," Mrs. Root recalled. "Kristen then made a comment that she thought it must be very hard for Emily's mom and grandmother to pay for gas because they were traveling so far every day. While we were driving home, Kristen and Leah decided that they would try to raise some money by collecting soda cans and taking them to the new recycling center here."

Collection

The girls soon designed a flyer to distribute house-to-house and talked to some of their friends about the project.

"After four days, the girls collected enough cans to make $114," Mrs. Root said.

The girls presented the money to Emily's mother -- and decided to do it again, this time trying to raise even more money. More flyers went out to anyone they could think of.

After a week, the girls netted an additional $211, plus monetary donations from those who didn't have cans but wanted to help out. The total rose to $360.

More to come

By then, word had spread all over town that the girls were on a fund-raising campaign for Emily and her family.

Sean Kelly, a disc jockey from a local radio station, became aware of the effort when his son brought one of the flyers home from religious ed class. The girls were asking for cans to be brought to the church parking lot the following week.

"We were hoping that the girls would get a good turnout," Mrs. Monahan said, "but we weren't prepared for what we got: It was a traffic jam!"

Can jam

Emily's father is a police officer, "so he and several of his co-workers directed traffic," Mrs. Monahan said. "Other parents brought their pickup trucks to put the cans in. Kristen had convinced some of the Boy Scouts in her sixth-grade class to help sort the cans, so they were on hand. Leah was collecting loose-change donations at the entrance from those that didn't have any cans. I just stood back in awe at what these two little girls had accomplished."

When everything was totaled, the sisters had collected enough cans to fill seven pickup trucks and a van: 15,000 cans and enough cash to total more than $2,000.

"We don't know where this will all end, but their dad and I will continue to support them," Mrs. Root said. "We're very proud of the girls, and what they've done for Emily and her family."

(3/27/2003) [[In-content Ad]]