EAST MACHIAS, Maine — Late Friday morning, the Schors' kitchen island at their East Machias home is covered with paraphernalia—knitted caps in an array of colors, shiny ornaments sitting in plastic containers, holiday tags with handwritten notes. 15-year-old Mackenzie Schors rustles through the collection to find a pen and continue her work—she's on a mission to raise others' spirits this month.
Mackenzie is putting together gift bags to give to families spending the holidays at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center's neo-natal intensive care unit. This is the third year she's taken on this particular project, and her reason for doing it is a personal one.
"I want to keep giving back—like, it's just a big part of my life, and it always has been," Mackenzie expressed to NEWS CENTER Maine. She and her family credit the NICU with saving her life when she was born 12 weeks early back in 2005. Mackenzie's mother, Wendy, says her daughter lost her twin sister—and was given a one percent chance to live.
"She spent her first Thanksgiving, first Christmas into a couple more months past that in the NICU—so she's heard us talk over the years about how lonely and stressful it can be," Wendy told NEWS CENTER Maine, noting the holiday season is especially tough because families have to make a decision to stay with their baby or visit loved ones. She says she imagines that choice has been made even more difficult this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and a limitation on visitors.
It's why the pair has been so dedicated to giving back and making connections with new NICU families to help them deal with a challenging situation.
"When I was in the NICU, I really just wanted to talk to someone who had been through it and had come out the other side and everything was great," Wendy said.
The gift bags Mackenzie is putting together include homemade hats and blankets, preemie onesies with positive sayings (done by a family friend), and hand-decorated ornaments. Usually Mackenzie and Wendy deliver the presents in person a few days before Christmas, but because of the coronavirus they're unable to do that this year. Instead, they will be handing off the gifts to hospital staff members who will give them to any families who want one.
Mackenzie is also collecting money to buy cafeteria gift cards for families—and her goal this year is to get at least $630 in donations. One of the people who says she always donates to Mackenzie's cause is Ree Anna Bridges, Mackenzie's "Jobs for Maine's Graduates" specialist at Machias Memorial High School. It's a program in which the public school partners with private businesses to help engage students in future career paths. For Mackenzie, that goal involves going to college to get her nursing degree and then doing extra training to become part of a NICU staff.
"Mackenzie is really the embodiment of a productive high school student," Bridges told NEWS CENTER Maine, while standing outside of Machias Memorial High School. "She's embracing the possibilities for a future."
Leigh Anne Gorecki is a nurse tech at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center who says she was relatively new in her role when Mackenzie was born more than a decade ago—and she met the Schors family then. She says it's been uplifting to see what Mackenzie has done for the NICU community.
"Kids like Mackenzie -- they’re inspiring to me, as well," Gorecki expressed to NEWS CENTER Maine via Zoom. "It makes me want to be more, be better— push myself further."
If you're interested in helping Mackenzie's cause, you can send donations to 31 Tattoo Lane, East Machias, 04630.
