An autistic teenage girl has received more than 10,000 birthday cards after her cousin posted an online plea for cards and posting a picture that showed the teen sitting alone last year. Some of the cards and gifts came from the Boston Red Sox, the Denver Bronchos, and a soldier in Afghanistan. Photo by
Rebecca Guildford/Facebook
BANGOR, Maine, June 16 (UPI) -- A autistic teenage girl received more than 10,000 cards from around the world for her birthday after an online campaign showed her sitting alone at her previous one.
Hallee Sorenson, who turns 19 on July 19, was pictured sitting alone and dejected at a bowling alley on her birthday last year, after none of the friends she invited showed up. Her cousin Rebecca Guildford of Massachusetts posted the photo online with a plea to make her 19th birthday better. It was shared more than 230,000 times.
"My cousin is a beautiful young woman who will always have the mind of a child...so as you can imagine, she was heartbroken and beyond sad. She was hurt," Guildford wrote.
"I would love to flood her mailbox with birthday cards, from all over! Hal loves getting mail- this would be the best birthday gift she could ask for. If you could find it in your heart to take a few mins out of your day and send her a card, I would be forever greatful (sic). This would mean a lot to her mother as well, for as you can imagine, watching your child cry into her birthday cake breaks your heart. If there is anyone who deserves a great birthday, this is the girl. Feel free to share this post!"
Since Guildford posted the photo on June 2, Sorenson has received birthday cards from the Boston Red Sox, Washington Redskins, John Elway and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. She's been showered with greetings, flowers, teddy bears and music from around the world.
She also received cards from the Maine Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, a soldier deployed in Afghanistan, and a woman from the Kennedy Space Center who sent her a NASA Barbie.
Sorenson's garage is filled with mail and Hallee's mother Allyson, launched a Facebook page to keep people updated on the stream of birthday cards. She noted four people have been working all day to organize the various cards and gifts.
