MARS HILL, Maine — Aroostook County Sheriff Shawn Gillen recently praised Rebecca O’Leary of Mars Hill for her spirit of community service.
O’Leary, 9, worked with her mom Jessica to collect foods for a local food drive and purchase children’s gifts for the Toys for Tots program. She also sold a pair of skis she grew out of, and used the proceeds to buy coats to donate to Recovery Aroostook, an addiction support center in Caribou.
Gillen presented O’Leary with a sheriff’s office patch and a challenge coin, thanking her for service.
“I learned in Girl Scouts what was needed in my community. I didn’t want someone to be hungry or cold so I asked my mom what I could do to help,” Rebecca O’Leary said in an email through her mom Jessica, who works at the Pineland Farms facility in Mars Hill.
“You should be nice to everyone,” O’Leary said. “Helping someone in need is easy and makes you feel good. It makes you want to keep doing it.”
