Hollis teen spearheads Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser

Dropping a grocery receipt in a box at the public library doesn’t sound like much.

But Erin Dorman, a 16-year-old Hollis Brookline High School junior, says that the boxes she plans to leave at the Hollis Social Library and the Brookline Library could indirectly help any number of patients with Cystic Fibrosis, an inherited chronic lung disease affecting children and young adults. The disease can be life-threatening.

Dorman has organized a fundraiser to benefit the local Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. For every $5,000 in Shaw’s Supermarket receipts she collects, the grocery chain has promised to donate one percent to the foundation.

The high school student launched the drive to fulfill a community service requirement of her American Studies class.

She chose the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, she said, because she’s helped at the organization in the past.

“My mom used to help, and I grew up learning about it,” Dorman said. “I’ve met some people who have CF.” The daughter of a nurse, Dorman is a member of the winter track team and Latin Club.

She said that she is one of 29 juniors involved in community service projects that stem from the American Studies course.

The two town libraries agreed to display her collection boxes in visible locations, she added, and will allow her to collect receipts through the end of January. And she’s hoping to reach $5,000 in receipts more than once before the drive is completed.

“They’ll put them in a place where they get attention,” Dorman said of the promise from library officials to support the collection.