Inspired by community

Christy McKenna was pushing her son and daughter on the swings during a visit to Franklin Square's Rath Park in 2008 when she realized how happy she was.

"I looked around at the other people in the park that day," she said. "I noticed everybody approached each other, interacted. We were all speaking to each other, and the children were enjoying playing with each other. I liked that."

At the time, she and her husband, Mark, then 27, and her children, Will, 2, and Emily, 4, were living in Suffolk County and were visiting Mark's family in Franklin Square, where he had grown up.

Christy, who was raised in New Jersey, knew from that moment that she wanted to raise her children in Franklin Square. "I told my husband, 'Let's move there,'" she recalled. "'Let's go back.' There was just something nice about being able to know everyone in that park." 

The McKennas met as students at North Florida University, marrying shortly after graduating from college. As soon as they could buy a house, they came to Franklin Square, where they have lived since 2009. After settling in, Christy, now 34, volunteered as a Girl Scout leader for the West Hempstead-Franklin Square troop that Emily belongs to. 

Ever since, she has been extremely involved in her adopted hometown, even founding a civic group. For this reason, and more, the Herald proudly name McKenna our 2016 Person of the Year. With her daughter's troop, McKenna became more involved in the community through the Adopt the Pike Program that she created, for which the girls maintained the part of Hempstead Turnpike that runs through Franklin Square.

With local businesses, McKenna arranged regular cleanups. "It was when Frosty's-- an ice cream shop and coffee bar on Hempstead Turnpike-- closed that struck a nerve," she said. "The turnpike wasn't the most pleasant-looking place. I thought, 'Wow, we're losing stores and there's garbage everywhere.' It was a simple idea to just go out and start cleaning."

Residents saw the scouts out cleaning and embraced the project, McKenna said. "I was floored by the reaction," she said. "People wanted to donate, and it grew out from there. We met more people, community leaders doing this."

Johnny Carlino, owner of T&F Deli and Pork on Hempstead Turnpike, said he was happy to see the girls out taking care of the neighborhood. "This is great - it's a community again,"  Carlino said. "It gives you a sense that the community is coming back together."

In 2015, the Franklin Square Civic Association was born from the Adopt the Pike Program. "Among my friends and with community leaders, we started talking about helping," McKenna said. "We thought that if the Girl Scouts can do a lot, with us grownups, what can we do?"

The organization's first meeting was held last January at the Franklin Square Library. McKenna became the group's president. In the months leading up to the organization's founding, she and other interested community members met every other week to discuss what it would take to get such a group up and running.

"There were steps involved to become incorporated, insurance to consider, and bylaws," she said. "We were building from scratch. Never did I think our Adopt the Pike Girl Scout project would have amounted to this."

William Youngfert, a member of the Franklin Square Chamber of Commerce, met McKenna when she needed help with another Girl Scout event, a flower-planting project. He became the civic association's treasurer.  

McKenna "asked me to help get the civic association started," Youngfert said. "We're getting residents involved with various committees to help make our great town better. We've also sponsored three events in town that people have turned out for and loved -- our Movie Night, Fall Festival and Winter Festival. Our government committee is going to approach the town, county and state with problems we can't solve on our own."

No doubt, getting the organization going was challenging, McKenna said. "Next year will be easier," she said. "We're taking notes from the events, such as what we liked and will continue, what didn't work, and what to change. We're taking a multi-pronged approach to the town and what it needs."

The association started with only a handful of people, but has already grown to more than 150 members. "So many people are involved and bring something special to the table," McKenna said. "We always want more of a portion of our community involved. People are coming out of the woodwork to ask us what we need or what can they do to help. Everybody's working together and it's great."

McKenna emphasized that she was not alone in creating the civic association. 

"My inspiration is that I love this town," she said. "I want it to be the best it can be for my children, our children and the future. That's my driving force. We're a tight-knit community who looks out for each other."

Congratulations, Christy McKenna!