Lincolnia teen raises $8,000 for first responders

Mealy Cronin [WUSA9]

Local teen Mealy Cronin raised $8,000 on GoFundMe to support first responders and essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. 

She is using the funds to provide hundreds of meals to Fairfax County and Arlington police stations and to six Inova hospitals. 

She organized a delivery from District Taco at the Skyline Center in Bailey’s Crossroads to the Mason District Police Station in May. “We are blown away by the volume of thoughtfulness and generosity created by one young community member,” the Fairfax County Police Department responded on Facebook. 

When the pandemic took hold, Mealy, a resident of the Heywood Glen community in Lincolnia, was sent home from Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school in Connecticut, where she is a freshman. 

“I wanted to help my community, especially local businesses, first responders, and the medical community,” Mealy says. “I’m really limited in what I can do. I just turned 15, and my mom won’t let me out of the yard.” 

“I’m grateful for everyone being so generous,” Mealy says. She plans to continue “as long as I possibly can and as long as people are in need.”