[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 170 (Monday, October 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        TRIBUTE TO LILIE MURRAY

 Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I am proud to recognize Lilie 
Murray of Rye as October's Granite Stater of the Month for her work to 
provide support and necessities to those in need.
  Lilie was first inspired to take up the cause to help less fortunate 
members of her community after her advisor and sophomore-year honors 
ecology teacher, Kimberly McGlinchey, taught Lilie's class about the 
United Nation's sustainable development goals, The class focused 
specifically on 3 of the 17 goals: no poverty, quality education, and 
sustainable cities and communities.
  In an effort to make progress on these goals in her community, Lilie 
started Portsmouth Community Closet, which donates new or gently used 
clothing to people in need on the Seacoast. The group distributed its 
first donations at Gosling Meadows, a public housing neighborhood in 
Portsmouth.
  During that event, Lilie learned that Gosling Meadows' residents were 
struggling to clean their clothes after the neighborhood laundromat 
shut down. Many of the residents did not have cars, and the local city 
buses do not allow residents to bring large bags on the bus.
  In response, Lilie organized a fundraiser to bring washers and dryers 
to families living in Gosling Meadows, giving priority to families with 
students who attended her public high school. The fundraiser was a huge 
success, raising $4,500 to provide eight families with energy-saving 
washers and dryers.
  Following up on her work with Gosling Meadows, Lilie started a summer 
program at Greenleaf Recreation Center in Portsmouth, which mainly 
serves children ages 6 to 13 from Gosling Meadows, as well as another 
public housing neighborhood in Portsmouth. She and her classmates 
brought the children in the program on trips that they normally would 
not be able to afford, such as rock climbing or blueberry picking.
  Her work with these kids inspired her to jump into another project to 
help her community, this time focusing on literacy. Lilie could see how 
much these children love to read, but there was no dedicated space in 
the Greenleaf Recreation Center for quiet reading. So over the summer 
she and her classmates built a colorful reading nook in the Greenleaf 
Recreation Center to give these children the space and resources that 
they needed to read and learn.
  What is so wonderful about Lilie's story is that each one of her 
volunteer services builds on the next and goes to show how inspiring 
and motivating it can be to volunteer in one's community.
  Thank you, Lilie, for your continued efforts to help those less 
fortunate and for committing yourself to creating a more just and equal 
society.

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