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age:8 Most children make a list a mile long of what they want for their birthday. However, Aubrey Freeman had a different idea. Aubrey is 8 years old and has a passion for caring for those less fortunate than her. Instead of asking for gifts for herself on her birthday, she wants friends and family to give her donations for local homeless shelters. “Why I started is because people are on the street and the people that walk by don’t treat them like they would want to be treated,” said Aubrey. “If they ask for money, people will probably do nothing. I don’t want them to be treated like that.” She started collecting on her birthday in 20 0. Sadly, during her actual birthday in May, the world was still on lockdown from the COV ID-19 pandemic. Instead, she rescheduled her birthday celebration to the end of June. Friends and family drove by, helping her collect more than 30 cans of food, surpassing her 100- can goal. P eople not only donated at her drive-through birthday, but many donated at her mom’s work at P lanters and her sis-
ter’s job at the Suffolk P olice Department. She divided the 30 cans with the clothes and money donations between two shelters in Suffolk and sent the bigger cans of food and clothes to the U nion Mission in Norfolk. “It feels great and makes me happy,” said Aubrey. “My goal is to do a little more each time and let them know they are loved.” Aubrey’s family is always there to support her and her causes as they wear their #T eamBre T-shirts and masks. Her mother, L atoya Savage, helped her start the Aubrey Freeman Foundation, where they regularly put in donations or their own money to fund Aubrey’s next projects. “As a mom, I am very proud of her and glad to be able to support her,” said Savage. “To be this young and understand the needs of people. She likes to see people happy and loved.” Aubrey hopes that in the future she can expand and help cancer patients as well. For now, she will continue to donate on her birthday each May. — Rac he l W ar t ian
Aubrey Freeman
What do you like to do in your free time? Sing and play basketball What is something you have accomplished? I wrote a children’s book, “A Trip to Granny Bear’s House, in 2019.”
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