Local Children Honored in Kindness Campaign

Kindness is a language that is heard by the deaf and seen by the blind. And it is definitely spoken by six local children.

On Sunday afternoon before a full house, the Mary Jo Brown Foundation, a 501 c NPO, honored six finalists in the 2016 Kindness Campaign. Conducted each year, the program rewards children who have shown great generosity of spirit, compassion for others, and voluntary public service.

Of the six finalists, three were from Melrose and attend the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School: Jack Jaggers, Liliana Ravins and Isabella Fay. All three are former students of the Hoover Elementary school and are a great reflection of the community spirit that is nurtured by principal Jenny Corduck. As one board member stated during the presentation: "there's something in the water in Melrose!!"

All three Melrose kids were featured previously in local news:

Jack for his giving back to Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center where he had multiple surgeries with an extremely successful blanket/quilt drive.

Liliana for being a "Sock it To Em" ambassador and collecting socks to be distributed through Hallmark Health Community Service as well as a shelter for the homeless in Salem. Lili conducted a successful drive last fall, enlisting the help of Ernie's Lunch, city hall and the Hoover School as collection sites. Watch for her repeat drive this fall, where she is hoping to involve children at all of the elementary schools in the city to expand the effort.

Isabella Fay for raising funds for Malala Yousafzai, a young woman who won the Nobel peace prize after surviving an attack by ISIS for wanting an education. Bella had previous fundraising experience collecting money for her mom's trip with Habitat for Humanity to Haiti in 2o12 and for her uncle's trip to Paraguay with Habitat in 2015. Bella also helped a kindergarten student at the Hoover overcome anxiety and skills, forfeiting her recess to do so.

Grand Prize winner of Trip to 4 in Disney was awarded to Isabella Fay by board president, Christina Brown and board member Terri DiOrio.

Congratulations to ALL of our nominees--each of you is a hero to us and we wish you all the best. May all your dreams come true!!