Bellmore first-grader helps family in need

The 100th day of school has been celebrated in elementary schools for over a decade. Typically, children collect items by the hundreds to mark the occasion. When 7-year-old Finnegan Corcoran-Doolin was told his first-grade class at Reinhard Elementary School in Bellmore would celebrate the 100th day of school, he jumped into action.

Finnegan’s parents, Kevin and Lauren, had heard of a family in Ronkonkoma who lost their home to a devastating fire in February. They mentioned the accident to Finnegan, not realizing he would want to help. Finnegan told his parents that, for his 100-days project, he would like to collect 100 items for the mother and daughter who had lost everything. Though Finnegan had never met Donna Phillips and her 9-year-old daughter, Jordan, he insisted on helping them.

“It was the first time I really witnessed, as a parent, him really care about someone he never met,” Lauren said.

With the plan in place, Finnegan and his parents started emailing and calling friends and family to tell them about his project and see if they could help in any way. The outpouring of support astounded them. Their Bellmore living room was quickly filled with hundreds of clothing items, toiletries and kitchen appliances.

People also gave gift cards to stores like Target and Walmart so the family could purchase items they needed as they got back on their feet. Finnegan and his mother loaded their minivan with the donated items and headed east. When they arrived in Ronkonkoma, Phillips and her daughter were living in a trailer on the property where their house had once stood. Finnegan and Lauren spent the rest of the day with the mother and daughter, showing them the items that had been donated and simply getting to know one another. Finnegan gave Jordan a teddy bear that he had picked out especially for her.

Having donated the items to Phillips and her daughter, Finnegan presented his project at school. His teacher and principal were so moved by what he had done that the school district awarded him the Community Service Award at the end of the year. Kevin said his son didn’t understand why the school community was so proud of him. “He said, dad, I don’t really know what all the fuss is about. All I did was help someone,” Kevin said.

Even now, some five months later, Finnegan said he would do it again if he could. “It was the right thing to do,” he said.