McAuley Student Receives Governor's Award

Sarah Dynia is a lifelong resident of Oak Lawn, IL and lives with her parents, Mark and Laura.  She is a sophomore at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in Chicago, Illinois. 

In 8th grade Sarah decided to create a non-profit organization called Stuffed Love to benefit others.  Her plan was to create hand-stitched stuffed items/pillows and give them to those who need to know they are not forgotten.  She never uses sewing machines, because she feels that each person deserves the personal attention of a hand-stitched pillow. Stuffed Love’s ability serves, but is not limited to the intellectually disabled, pediatric heart patients, veterans, seniors, economically disadvantaged, the homeless, and the sick.

Sarah came to Park Lawn in 2011 as a volunteer offering her services through Stuffed Love to give individuals with intellectual disabilities a chance to create projects for themselves. These projects demonstrate how being diagnosed with a disability does not stop you from giving back to the community. With the help of her creative nature, Park Lawn program participants have created items that enhance their environment.  She also encourages others to participate in Park Lawn Fun Days event where she interacts directly with Park Lawn’s participants through activities including dancing, bingo and more.  Stuffed Love also donates items to give away as prizes.

Sarah has also teamed with Mended Little Hearts of Chicago and their Care Bag Program to create hand-stitched Stuffed Love Hearts so that the pediatric heart patients have something to hold after heart surgery.  In 2012, Sarah has sewn over 1,000 pillows for the care bag program and the Angel Heart Memory Box program, which is for parents who are grieving the loss of a child due to Congenital Heart Defect.  In addition to sewing pillows, she spreads CHD awareness throughout Chicago and its suburbs.

She continues to provide services to other organizations such as:  Stuffed Love (Founder);  generationOn (Service Leader’s Committee Founding Member); Interact Club of Oak Lawn (Treasurer/Past President/Public Relations - Social Media); Interfaith House; Mended Little Hearts of Chicago; Oak Lawn Children’s Museum; Park Lawn; White Sox Volunteer Corps; and Worth Township Youth Service Bureau (Peer Juror).

In addition to her numerous volunteer activities, she’s a very active student at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School where she is a Catherine McAuley Honors Scholar.  She is also a member of Action/Reaction, EcoMacs, Junior Classical League, Math Club, Math Macs, Primary Colors, Science Club, Science Bowl Club, Student Ambassador’, W.I.S.E. and is a goalie on the lacrosse team.

For her volunteer service with Park Lawn and more, Sarah received the Youth Service Governor’s Volunteer Service Award on April 18th, 2013.