By Jacquie Rath
The call came from Rockville Centre's superintendent of schools, Dr. William H. Johnson, who related the saga of members of a family who had evacuated their home in New Orleans. The damage to their neighborhood was so horrific that it was all but obliterated by the storm.
The family, Dana Brumfield and her two sons, Khaleel, 12, and Bryce, 2, fled with little more than the clothes on their backs. They had come to Rockville Centre with hopes of starting over.
Johnson informed McGinn that Khaleel would be enrolling in the middle school. McGinn realized that it would be up to her and the middle school community to welcome the boy and his family. Anticipating what the needs of the Brumfields might be, she initiated a very personal South Side relief effort.
"I was with Shelagh when she got the call," said middle school Assistant Principal Rose Cammarata. "She immediately e-mailed faculty members with a list of items the family would need. The faculty is very caring and committed. Everyone gets on the bandwagon, and they are always giving. We have great chemistry."
The very next day, donations began flooding the middle school. There were clothes (including winter coats), toiletries, diapers, toys, food and even a bike for Khaleel. The next challenge for McGinn was to find a place to store the items, because the family was holed up in a tiny motel room, with barely enough room for Bryce to toddle around. The middle school faculty helped McGinn set up a closet on the second floor of the school to store the donated items.
"Sometimes it's an awkward feeling when you're the charity case," said Dana Brumfield when she was asked how she was feeling before meeting McGinn. "I was all cried out. [I thought] Please not another shoulder to cry on - not today, maybe tomorrow. We had an 11 o'clock appointment with Principal McGinn at South Side Middle School. After a few minutes of welcomes and intros, I felt a sincere welcoming."
After meeting the Brumfields, McGinn began working toward two goals. The first was to ensure that Khaleel merged into the middle school environment as seamlessly as possible. The second was to help the family meet its basic needs while Brumfield sought permanent housing and a steady income.
Middle school staff and students joined McGinn in wanting to help. There were fund-raisers at the school. The faculty - including McGinn - took part in fund-raising basketball and volleyball games, which brought in almost $2,000 for the family. The student council joined in as well, selling Mardi Gras necklaces to raise even more money.
Beyond monetary and academic support, McGinn offered the Brumfields what they may have needed most of all - friendship. "As I've gotten to know Ms. McGinn, I have found that one word can be used to describe her: beautiful," said Dana. "Beautiful character, beautiful personality, beautiful heart and beautiful soul. I have truly been blessed [to know her]. I am glad to have my son attend her school and be part of the Rockville Centre community. Shelagh McGinn is, as we would say in the South, 'good peoples.'"
"Shelagh likes to help people do good things for others," said Johnson. "She was thrilled to help the family find a home in Rockville Centre, and proud of having helped make Khaleel just another member of the middle school family."
McGinn, who lives in Long Beach, is a single mother of two girls she adopted from China. She adopted both as adolescents, which brought many challenges, including communication and cultural
differences. But the special-education teacher-turned-principal took on those challenges, and has worked tirelessly to make her daughters happy. She is a class mother at the Chinese school they attend each week, helping to preserve understanding of their heritage.
McGinn also raises funds for the Make a Wish Foundation. Each January she participates in the annual Polar Bear Swim that raises money for the foundation.
"Shelagh is a gift from God," said Cammarata. "She truly has a heart of gold."
But perhaps the best tribute to McGinn, the Herald's 2005 Person of the Year, came from 12-year-old Khaleel Brumfield, who told his mother "Ma, Ms. McGinn is cool."
