Photography by Jennifer Korman
When an energetic kid puts her passion into action, great things can happen—super things involving capes and charity and fun. Legacy Jackson, a fifth-grader at New City School, has a bright smile and boundless energy. As the chief superhero and leader of a group called Little Legacies, she gathers friends and plans monthly community service missions. They often meet to brainstorm over pancakes, and they sometimes wear capes. The group has gathered canned goods for Operation Food Search, dyed Easter eggs with kids at a homeless shelter, and made emoji-themed comfort kits for children with cancer.
Legacy’s mom, Kynedra Ogunnaike, a school counselor, supports her daughter’s big ideas (she even illustrated a book Legacy wrote to honor her late brother, who died of complications of type 1 diabetes) and went the extra mile to make Little Legacies a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2017. Legacy was awarded the Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest honor for Junior Girl Scouts, after making toys for animals at the Humane Society.
Little Legacies’ next mission is for ShoeCrew Water Projects, which helps kids in Africa get clean drinking water. Might be time to trade in shoes for a cape.
