For 13 years now, Fairfield teen Molly Meehan and with the help of her mother, Michele Meehan, when she was much younger, has been raising money to bring Easter “hoppiness” to the littlest clients of Operation Hope.

In 2006, Molly, then age 3, and her mother, counted her piggy bank. Feeling she had too much for someone that age, Michele suggested they do something for a charity with those extra pennies. Michele called Operation Hope to see if they could donate an Easter basket. Michele thought it would be something fun and easy they could shop for, make together and deliver. After speaking with an Operation Hope employee, Michele asked out of curiosity how many baskets Operation Hope would need in order to give one to each child it served; that first year with the help of friends, Michele made 60 baskets. Molly helped, but being so little, she needed to clear the way for the assembly line!

A few years ago, she recruited friends Abby King and Emma von der Linden (also pictured here). The girls run sports camps, movie nights and American Girl play dates to raise the money required to purchase everything for the baskets. They try to get Girl Scout cookies donated, which has been a colorful and tasty addition to the baskets for the last five years.

We are grateful to Molly and her friends for their support of our clients all these years. Something that seems so simple shows the children we serve that someone cares, and how lovely is it that it’s another child giving back and learning so much from her experience. The Meehans are raising and inspiring such thoughtfulness in their big-hearted daughter and her friends, and for that, our community is a better place.