ROCHESTER, Mich. – On a rainy morning in Rochester, something has got the attention of the neighbors. A very special surprise party for high school junior Lily Powers who turned 17 on Wednesday.
Because of social distancing, she wasn’t able to have party. But that didn’t stop her family, friends and about a dozen police and fire trucks from holding a parade in her honor just outside her front door. Some brought gifts. Others made signs and yelled out birthday wishes.
But Lily had plans to make her day about others. When her mother, a pharmacist, received a gift card for a local restaurant, Lily decided to give back on her birthday by giving meals to medical workers at Beaumont hospital in Troy.
“Since my birthday. It was quarantine and I couldn't really do anything so why not try to help someone else,’ she said from the sidewalk as her friends waved from car windows.
At the hospital, she donated lunches and cookies to healthcare workers and was met by about a dozen Beaumont nurses and doctors each holding signs and a long banner, thanking her for thanking them.
After that, Lily was off to Ascension Hospital just across town where she donated 6 new iPad tablets, hoping to help COVID-19 patients connect with loved ones who aren't allowed to visit them in their hospital beds.
“It feels really good to help someone, and especially since it's really hard for everyone right now and the situation's really tough,” she said.
Lily’s day of giving didn’t end at the hospitals. She ended her day by giving meals to a local homeless shelter and pasing out whatever was left to those homeless on 8-mile. Her aunt Elizabeth said Lily and her family help out the homeless so often, they know many of the people they help by name.
At 17, Lily is a high school junior who’s been force to learn from home. When asked by a doctor at Beaumont what her plans were for her future, she said she hopes to graduate and go to medical school to become a doctor just like those she was thanking.