Huntington Local

By Lynn Petry
lynn.petry@newsday.com

The words on the proclamation the Huntington Town Council presented to 8-year-old Sarah Connor of Northport read, “you’re never too young, or too old to make a difference in the world…”

Over this past summer, Sarah started to make the difference by selling lemonade outside her house on Main Street. She took all the proceeds and donated them to cancer research to help find a cure for a disease that is now a part of her daily thoughts. She contributed the money to “Connor’s Army,” a fund that her father, Gene Connor, started about a year ago. His three sisters and his mother are effected by the illness and in his own way, Connor wanted to help his family members fight back. Now, he’s joined by his littlest army member, his daughter Sarah.

Sarah is now following in the footsteps of her father, who made the commitment to cycle 2,000 miles to raise $10,000 for the society. He’s well on his way to achieving that goal, cycling since January and continuing till January 2008. Inspired by her dad, Sarah has pledged to ride her bicycle 50 miles by year’s end and raise $500. At this time, she’s 30 miles into her goal.

“She chose to do this when she still had her training wheels on her bike,” her mother, Amy Connor, says, “and we’re so proud of her, because it was all her idea.” Weekends and sometimes after school, you can find Sarah and her Dad riding around Northport … if the weather holds out.

This week was especially tense for the family because Sarah’s aunt TaMara, who lives in Tennessee, was waiting for test results after a recurrence. “We can’t make them dinner because they are so far away,” Amy Connor said, “so Gene and Sarah get on their bikes and ride; it alleviates the stress and it’s their way of being close to them and helping them out, even though they are so far away.”

Recently, Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, along with his fellow board members, presented Sarah with a proclamation for her striving to find the cure for cancer with the help of her trusty bicycle. She now has her own cancer fighting fund called, “Connor’s Army Junior.”
If you are interested in donating to either of the Connor’s Army campaigns, log on to www.connorsarmy.org.