INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Katy Mulligan and her young protégé Anabelle Greene are fitting examples of the adage that good things come in small packages.
Petite and passionate, the two are engaged in a project to brighten the lives of abused and neglected children in Indian River County.
A senior at Saint Edward’s School, Mulligan recently began grooming Greene, a seventh-grade student at the school, for the role she will relinquish when she heads off to college – Hibiscus Children’s Center Backpack Fairy.
In 2000, Mulligan was struck by a cause her brother Josh initiated as a senior-year community service project: to raise money and donate backpacks filled with school supplies to the Hibiscus Children’s Center.
Six years old at the time, the idea continued to rattle around in her brain until the summer of 2005 when she enlisted the help of her older brother Jacob to revive the concept.
Through her efforts she has since boosted the spirits of more than 500 children at the Hibiscus Children’s Village in Vero Beach.
More often than not, children arrive at the village with only the clothes they are wearing and clutching what few possessions they have stuffed into a garbage bag.
Frightened and scarred by physical and emotional abuse, they arrive having been rescued from unimaginably horrific conditions.
The simple supplies filling the backpacks are frequently the first they’ve ever owned.
“I’d read a lot of stories about child abuse victims; it appealed to my sympathetic side,” said Mulligan. “It put me in my place; I realized how lucky I was to have been born into the family I had and that not everyone was so privileged. Abuse is not secluded to other parts of the world – you can find it anywhere. It’s people who live in this town. When I first learned about kids taken away from their homes, I realized that school comes around every year and every year they need supplies and there’s not a parent to pay for it.”
Her parents Jill Mulligan, then-owner of the former Arabella Boutique, and Matt Mulligan, of Omni Financial, gave her an entrée into area businesses and residents that first year, and she appealed to them for help with the project.
“We did well but we learned a lot about what to do better the next year.”
At the start of the following summer they spoke with Donna Clements, the center’s volunteer coordinator, to determine the number and types of supplies needed for each grade.
“We asked people to buy a backpack, fill it and drop it off. Now we try to tell our donors when they’re buying for their kids at Saint Ed’s to just get double the supplies. They can buddy up and split the price of one backpack if they want. We also told people that if they didn’t have the time, they could donate the money and we could do the shopping for them.”
One year she also took on an additional project.
“I decided I wanted to do more; I decided to be a Santa’s little helper. I asked the kids to write a wish list and made sure all of them got clothes, shoes, toys, and lots of fun things.”
Her efforts raised approximately $1,500 worth of gifts, including a pair of shoes, an iTouch and a $50 iTunes gift card for each child.
After she and her brother spent the 2009 school year at the American School in Switzerland, she vacationed in Spain, but even that didn’t stop her backpack program.
She began utilizing Facebook and other electronic media, to reach a broader base and continued the mission on her own when her brother left to attend the University of Miami.
The backpacks, each reviewed, inventoried and labeled by Mulligan as to gender and age, are dropped off the week before school starts.
Each child at the village receives one, and the remainder is held for distribution later.
“That really helps throughout the year as most kids come in with nothing,” said Parris Westbrook, director of Resource Development. “Throughout the nine months of the school year we can easily have 100 kids go through. The kids start asking at the beginning of August, ‘When is the backpack fairy coming?’ They get all excited when they see them. They know the things are donated, and some do know that it’s coming from someone in the community their own age.”
As she looks ahead to college, Mulligan indicated that she is keeping an open mind as to what her major will be.
She has applied for early decision to George Washington University which she admits is “basically my dream school.”
In Greene, she has clearly chosen the right person to continue the program as a perpetual charity.
Next door neighbors, Mulligan and Greene have always had a close relationship.
“I used to baby sit her and she’s always been very mature,” said Mulligan. “She’s definitely strong enough to carry on the project.”
“I think it’s a very important thing to do,” said Greene. “Even one small step can make a difference in someone’s life. You don’t realize how bad it really is until you see how many kids actually need these things.”
One could almost see the ideas churning in her brain as Greene added, “The first year I’m just going to start off following and copying what she did. I definitely want to incorporate some new things. I’m very excited to see where I can take it. I would definitely like to restart the Christmas tradition; get some local stores involved. It’s a big issue in our community – something that everyone should be involved in.”
The Greene family has a long tradition in the area’s citrus and cattle industry, beginning with Anabelle’s grandfather Barney Greene and continuing with her father Griffin.
Her mother Camille, now an assisted learning teacher at Saint Edward’s, was once Katy Mulligan’s kindergarten teacher.
Wistfully admitting that she’s too tiny to play football, Greene is still passionately athletic, playing on the volleyball, soccer and lacrosse teams.
She credits her three older sisters with helping her along the way saying, “They’re all very athletic and smart – they’re very good role models.”
As government funding continues to be slashed, despite an increase in the number of child abuse and neglect cases, the staff at the Hibiscus Children’s Center is especially appreciative of voluntary programs such as this, and they are elated that Mulligan has made arrangements for its continuance.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” stated Mulligan. “Kids talk about wanting to make a difference in the world. What they don’t realize is that you have to take that first step, which means your community. Your community is part of the world as well. They don’t realize how many opportunities to help are just outside their backyard.”
