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THE GIFT OF GENEROSITY: Two young sisters donate birthday money to those in need
Special to the Vindicator
Photo
Sara Sudano, 10, of Berlin Center, opens a card from a friend at her birthday party at the Salem Community Center Saturday evening. Sara, along with sister Abigail, 11, asked for donations instead of birthday gifts so they can help local causes.
Special to the Vindicator
Photo
Abigail Sudano, 11, of Berlin Center (second from left) opens a card from a friend at her birthday party at the Salem Community Center Saturday evening. She gets some help from friends Katie Henderson, 10, of Berlin Center, Sudano, Angela Fusillo, 10, of North Jackson and Kendall Dye, 11, of Berlin Center. Sudano asked for donations instead of birthday gifts so she can help local causes.
By Karl Henkel
BERLIN CENTER
For the Sudano sisters’ joint birthday celebration this past Saturday, they asked their guests for one thing: money.
The money, though, wasn’t for them. Instead the sisters — Abby, who turned 11 on Feb. 1, and Sara, who turns 10 today — will take their gifts from the party at the Salem Community Center and donate them to special local causes.
“Everybody has their struggles,” said Jennifer LaLime, Abby and Sara’s mother. “We’ve gone through our hard times, too, and we were the recipients of a lot of generosity and kindness, and it made a difference for us.
“We’d just like to do the same thing.”
It wasn’t LaLime, a single mother who acknowledged that her family looked for extra help years ago, who suggested the change in birthday themes. In fact, she couldn’t remember if she had even brought it up before last year, when Abby and Sara started the new trend.
“She’s helped us our whole lives,” Sara said. “If we needed anything, she gave it to us, and if we needed anything, she’d help us to do it.”
Abby and Sara said the situation of receiving help aided them in learning their current gift of giving.
“I know what it’s like to not have a lot of food and to think about what you have and what you need to get,” said Abby, a fifth-grader at Western Reserve Middle School. “We just want to give back because so many people have done so much nice stuff for us.”
In 2010, the sisters raised $159 for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard at First Federated Church in North Jackson. This year, they have decided to spread their donations — $210 — between two causes: Abby’s portion will go to First Federated and Sara’s to the Northeast Ohio Labrador rescue.
“I just started volunteering at this lab rescue this year,” said Sara, who is in the fourth grade at Ellsworth Elementary. “I’ve always loved animals, and I always will.”
Labradors are Sara’s favorite kind of dog, though for now the family has a toy fox terrier named Jasper.
“He’s quite yappy,” she said.
Sara could be a spokesperson for the Northeast Ohio Labrador rescue — unofficially, that is. She has pamphlets and even made makeshift business cards for the organization.
Paula Carella, along with her husband, Dom, have run the rescue since 1998, and she paid compliment to Sara’s cause.
“It’s really inspiring to see a child her age already being so conscientious,” she said.
The girls, who both attend First Federated, previously helped at the church’s annual turkey dinner, assisting in cooking meals for homeless families who stay at the church.
“I think they’re great kids. They think of other people a lot, and I’m grateful for that,” said LaLime, before she was quickly interrupted by her younger daughter.
“She’s just a great mom,” Sara said. “She raised us well.”