MIDDLETOWN, Md. - Middletown High School sophomore Maureen McCarrick has been named a state-level high school winner of the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Award.
Maureen co-founded a 30-member children's theater troupe that stages performances to benefit disabled and disadvantaged people in the community. She expanded family skits that she and her siblings presented to their parents to backyard shows for friends and neighbors who brought canned goods for the local food bank. Now the group has 30 members and has performed at the town pavilion, on the high school stage and at nursing homes and daycare centers.
In addition to canned foods, the troupe has raised thousands of dollars through ticket sales to purchase Christmas presents for struggling families, a service dog for a girl with muscular dystrophy, school supplies for needy children and a bicycle for a handicapped boy.
"The work we have done has allowed me to appreciate what I have, and more importantly, what I have been given," Maureen said.
