The McCreary Family

My name is Heather Fullerton.    I am a 17 year teacher in the Queen Anne’s County Public School System.   There’s a wonderful family that I have come to know that I would like to tell you about.    The McCreary Family:  A mother and father with 6 beautiful children.  Sandra, the oldest, is 22 and attends Salisbury University.  She is an artist and hopes to do mixed media.  Samantha, 18, attends Chesapeake College and made the Dean’s List!   Sam hopes to become a psychiatrist.   Danny, 17, is a sophomore at Queen Anne’s County HS.  Grace is an 8th grader at Centreville Middle School and Rebekah is a 7th grader at CMS.  The youngest, Isabel, is a 5th grader at Kennard Elementary School.   All 6 children are involved in music.  They all sing and play some kind of instrument.   Sandra on the drums, Sam on guitar, Danny on bass, Grace on guitar (and she plays the trombone in the Centreville Middle School Band), Rebekah on guitar (and she plays trumpet and baritone in the CMS Band) and Isabel on the keyboard (she’s going to learn to play the saxophone with the CMS Band next year.) 

Now, let me tell you a little about this past year for the McCreary family.   Last August, Isabel had eye surgery at Wilmur Eye Institute for a condition called strabismus.  In the fall, Tina (the Mom) had iron levels so dangerously low, she needed expensive infusions.    There have been hospital visits for pneumonia.   Tina was in a car accident about 2 months ago.  Now, Rebekah needs emergency back surgery.   She went for a check-up on her back brace, which she’s been wearing 18 hours a day for 6 months, and learned that the curvature of her spine has increased 24% during that time.     Surgery needs to happen as soon as possible.   It’s scheduled for early June.  

The McCreary’s are the epitome of perseverance.   During all these medical demands, they had to replace two unreliable cars, then one of the new ones, when it was totaled in March.   Dan (the Dad) has a job whose paycheck relies on supply and demand.  Demand has been down, paychecks are lower by a third.   Tina has been working two jobs and somehow keeps this family running while the father is on the road driving his truck for days at a time.  She’s going to have to stop one of her jobs to care for Rebekah during her recovery.   The family has insurance, but it’s not enough to cover the amount of medical bills that have surfaced and will continue.

The McCreary family did not ask for all of these obstacles this past year.  They have been handling them all on their own, but I think it’s time our community rallied to help.   These children are coming through our Queen Anne’s County school system.   Sandra and Samantha graduated from QACHS in 2011 and 2015 respectively.   If you know the McCreary’s, then you know a loving, kind-hearted family who has not asked for any help during all of these crises. 

I am asking you to help this family.   I’ve talked to Tina and Dan and, while they are a bit uncomfortable, they know that it’s time to reach out.   They need help and I know no better community than Centreville and QACPS to show this family their generosity.  Whether it’s $5 or $50, please consider donating to help offset some of the medical expenses that the McCreary’s have.