38 • MARCH 2024 Photos: Destiny Perkins Photography
KIDS WHO CARE Mollie Buchanan Susan Marquez MOLLIE BUCHANAN CAN SEE THE GIFTS IN PEOPLE. “SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN DRAWN AWAY FROM THE CROWD AND TOWARDS THE KID WHO MAY BE A BIT DIFFERENT OR HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS,” SAYS HER MOM, MARY BUCHANAN. “That may come from growing up with a brother who lives with autism. She has a very compassionate heart.” Mary and her husband, Curt, are very proud of both of their children. Mollie is a tenth grader at Germantown High School. Her brother, Tripp, is thirteen months younger than Mollie, and he attends Germantown High as well. To say Mollie stays busy is an understatement. In addition to her classes and schoolwork, she participates in several extracurricular activities, including being a member of the Diamond Girls, a group of girls who support the Germantown baseball team by running the music at the games, working the concession stand, and even running after foul balls. She is also on the yearbook staff, Student Council Association, and she is currently up for representative of the Interact Club, a community service group club that serves different roles in the community. Mollie especially enjoys participating in the Healthcare Academy at Germantown, a which requires an application/ process. Students are selected each year, and their classes are on a medical track with RN’s teaching their medical classes. “It is super fun,” says Mollie. “It’s like the first couple of years of medical school. Each semester we study a different system in the body like the muscular system.” Participating students will graduate already having certifications in the medical field, so it is a step ahead for those students who want to go that route. Mollie says she wants to go into occupational therapy for special needs kids. “My mom has a friend who works at the Little Light House who does that kind of work. I volunteer there when I can. I think it would be amazing to help children through occupational therapy and teaching them to do things they thought they couldn’t do.” She has seen the work of occupational therapists first-hand with her grandmother. “It is amazing what they are able to help her do.” Growing up with Tripp has taught Mollie patience and compassion. She volunteers regularly at Hope Hollow Ministries, which provides year-round Christian camp experiences for families touched by disability. “A friend invited me to go to a spring break camp there when I was in the eighth grade,” she says. “We went every day for a week, and I loved making crafts with the special needs kids there.” Mollie now helps with cooking classes at Hope Hollow once a week, as well as Parent’s Night Out, but her favorite thing to do there is a girl’s Bible study. “I work with a group of middle school girls, and I love every moment of it. We meet once a month, and the girls always look forward to it. I have grown very close to them while sharing God’s word.” Mollie is also involved with the student ministry at her church, Broadmoor Baptist, and she loves spending time with her grandmother. “My grandma is amazing, and with each moment I spend with her, I realize we aren’t promised tomorrow. She is such an inspiration. She has done work with prison ministries, she has passed out water bottles to people in her hometown, and she has baked cookies for the firemen. She has always had such a giving heart, and I think she is one of the reasons I’m motivated to do all I do.” To think what this sixteen-year-old can accomplish in her next two years of high school boggles the mind. She makes it all look so easy. Her whole friend group is like Mollie,” says her mom. They are all amazing kids. It gives you hope for the future when you see them.” Hometown MADISON • 39