Long Island student helping animals orphaned by wildfires in Australia

NEW YORK - 11-year-old Lily Rosengard has become a young hero in her community.

The East Setauket elementary school student was devastated after learning about the Australian wildfires, which have already killed at least two dozen people and a devastating number of animals. 

Many others have been orphaned.

“I really wanted to find a way to help, so we started sewing, and it just became such a big thing,” Lily says.

Marsupials need their mothers’ pouches to finish growing.

That’s why Lily started sewing dozens of different colored “Joey” pouches to send off to Australia, in hopes that they’ll help nurse the marsupials back to good health.

“She found a pattern online that she could download and start sewing away. I posted a quick picture on Facebook, and social media basically took over,” Lily’s mother, Debbie Rosengard says.

The charitable cause is near and dear to Lily’s heart, especially because her family often rescues injured animals.

When Lily asked her school for support, her principal, teachers and classmates were all eager to jump on board.

LI’ve seen a lot of news channels talking about the fires and I think it’s really cool that we get to participate in it,” fifth grader Sam Janczyk says.

“Lily was very good in explaining. She explained how to trace it, she gave all the little details. There were no, like, ‘what-if’s,’” 6th grader Molly Karp adds.
 
In under a week, Lily’s efforts have already helped to raise more than $4,500 for Australia’s animal wildlife victims.

Together, she and her community have also pitched in to collect at least three-hundred yards of fabric, which is roughly the size of three football fields.

Lily is encouraging others to help rescue Australia’s sick, injured and orphaned wildlife by visiting www.wires.org.au and making a small donation.