Liliana Tripp and her parents delivered more than 600 food items to Helping Hands Food Pantry on Nov. 22. Helping Hands maintains storage and distribution at 115 King Street in Oxford, collocated there next to Polly’s Variety.
OXFORD — Oxford Elementary School student Liliana Tripp may be the only second-grader around who heads up her own community support non-profit. At least, she is not aware of any others who do.
From Lil with Love is a 501c3 organization Liliana and her parents, Allen and Laura Tripp, set up back in 2020.
Liliana Tripp, 8, hauls in food donations to Helping Hands Food Pantry in Oxford, community support work she began as a homeschool student in 2020. Supplied photo
That fall, with the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, the Tripps opted to homeschool Liliana. Her learning plans included Community Project Fridays.
What started as roadside cleanup quickly evolved into something more ambitious. After an assignment where the family learned about how volunteers help their communities, the Tripps decided to run a food drive to support Oxford’s Helping Hands Food Pantry during Thanksgiving.
As she learned more about needs of the community, Liliana wanted to do even more, which led to establishing a non-profit so she could make her projects official year-round work.
She raises money running a lemonade stand during Founder’s Day each summer. Some friends, Brett and Susan Sessions, host a From Lil with Love bottle recycling drop-off on Route 26 that has pulled in more than $1000 a year. Liliana also collects direct financial donations from supporters around Oxford Hills.
“My bus driver Russ (Newcomb) donated $10,” she said. “Can you make sure to mention that in the newspaper?”
Using the funds she raises through From Lil with Love, the Tripps distribute Christmas gifts, Easter baskets and stocked school backpacks to children staying at Oxford county’s three homeless shelters. This year they added a new drive to provide summer toys for unhoused children at the shelters.
Liliana Tripp (front), 8, of Oxford, was received a 2022 Spirit of Maine Award from Oxford County Commissioners. Also pictured, District 3 Commissioner Timothy Turner, left, and Laura McCann Tripp. Supplied photo
Liliana also fills Christmas stockings that Community Concepts deliver to senior citizens who are clients of the agency’s heating program.
Her dedication has not gone unnoticed. A year ago Liliana received a Spirit of Maine Award from the Oxford County Commissioners’ Office.
The bulk of food donations come to From Lil with Love via a donation kiosk set up outside the Tripp’s home at 64 Rabbit Valley Road. They also collect
“Sometimes we get so many deliveries that stuff ends up on top of the box,” Liliana said.
But according to Laura McCann Tripp, this year’s community service lesson includes the fact that sometimes it is harder for people to give through tough times. Last year Helping Hands received 1,200 food items from Liliana’s holiday drive.
“We kind of had a harder start this year,” Liliana says. “But then things got better and we got over 600 hundred items,” which have already been delivered to the food pantry’s headquarters at Polly’s Variety on King Street Road.
From Lil with Love is a family enterprise, but Liliana calls the shots on the projects they support. Mom Laura acts as treasurer and Dad Allen is in charge of operations and logistics.
People can catch updates on Liliana’s community service on her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FromLilwithLove, or learn how to help support her by emailing the family at FromLilwithLove@hotmail.com.
“It feels really nice to help others,” she stated.
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