Congratulations to all our winners!
The 2020 “Kids Who Make Magic Awards” are sponsored by The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital and in part by Crystal Auto Mall, Toyota and Mazda
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WINNERS!
ANDREW
Nominated by Mom, Michelle
Andrew is an 8th Grade student who is involved in his school Band, is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and tried out for his school baseball team prior to COVID closing the school for the year last year. He plays travel baseball as a catcher and travel hockey as a goalie. November is “Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month” so last year he created a fundraiser “Saves For Grandma” where he uses his love of hockey to raise money for pancreatic cancer research in the month of November. So for every “save” he makes as a goalie we donate $1. He created this in honor of his grandmother whom he lost 2 years ago after her battle with pancreatic cancer. Last year he raised over $1500 for the Lustgarten Foundation. He has raised $335 so far this year between his saves and donations and hopes to match his total for last year.
EMILY
Nominated by Mom, Sandra
Emily from Monroe is a selfless and humble 16 year old mentor to her sisters and her schoolmates!
As with many teenagers, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, she had a lot of milestones cancelled or postponed, but never once did she complain or become upset. When her mom had to go back to work, she became the caretaker for her brothers and sisters, and helped out with laundry, light cooking, and even walking the dog! She created lists and asked her siblings for help with household chores. All of this to give her mom a break and be able to focus on once again working full time.
She’s currently doing school 100% remotely, and is a Junior who wants to go to college and become a teacher.
DONOVAN
Nominated by mother, Melissa
Donovan is an amazing kid. He has a heart of gold and does what he can for others. He has been a weekly Sunday volunteer with Calling All Cats Farm Sanctuary since March 2018. While there, he cleans, feeds, administers medications, and loves over 40 cats. In addition, he held a birthday fundraiser where over $1600 was raised for the Calling All Cats. Donovan also makes, labels and fixes blankets for Project Linus, an organization that provides homemade blankets to needy/sick children ages 0-18. Donovan was also an active member of his school’s student council and was an instrumental part of their collection for Fulfill. (pre-covid)
DAKOTA & MADISON
Nominated by their mother, Kimberly
When the whole pandemic started, Dakota and Madison kept asking their mom “How can we help?” Their mom contacted a local senior facility and was told there was a mask shortage. Almost immediately, Dakota and Madison went to work on making masks, wrote encouraging notes to the residents, and even included coloring pages as something extra!
The girls also got involved in another community group that donated masks to those in need, and that meant more measuring, cutting, and ironing! A lot of love went into both projects, and as a result, many people were able to help stop the spread of Covid 19.
GRACE
Nominated by her mother, Sheila
Grace is a young girl with a big heart who’s always looking to help family, friends, and those in her community. When Covid 19 started ramping up, she wanted to make a difference, so she organized a food drive to benefit the Somerset County Food Bank. She made flyers, sent text messages, and made phone calls to tell everyone about the event. After 7 days, she raised over $1200 dollars, and over 1,000 food items were donated! Grace knew she couldn’t just do this one time, so throughout the summer, she continued to gather non-perishable food times and donations and drop them at the food bank. Due to Grace’s tenacity and dedication, families in Somerset County were able to put food on the table, and enjoy a meal together. Grace is already thinking about what she’ll be able to do for the upcoming holiday season, and those she’s helped in the community are forever grateful!
MADISON
Nominated by her mother, Tara
8 year old Madison is a girl with a heart of gold! With everything that’s unfolded in 2020, she remained positive, and wanted to make a difference in the community. She thought of many things she could do, and settled on creating a home based “Diversity Library!” Her vision came to life, and the library is full of books that contain characters of different races, ethnicities, religions, and abilities. So far, she’s collected 200 books, and says her goal is to spread the word throughout her neighborhood and community so everyone can read and share!
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