After volunteering at an animal shelter called Operation Kindness, Ursuline Academy of Dallas junior Mags McKinney discovered her love for animals. When looking for a way to incorporate her interests, she remembered the weeks she once spent at Children’s Medical Center, and how bored she was. To try and fill that time and brighten the children’s stay, McKinney wrote, illustrated and published 1,000 children’s books to hand out at the hospital.
Her book Incredible Creatures features endangered species like the red panda, which is illustrated on the cover with facts about each animal and cartoon drawings of her own design.
Previously, McKinney has displayed her art through selling stickers and Instagram GIFs, creating blankets to donate to The Linus Project, and volunteering as a face painter at school fairs. Last year, she started creating mini digital coloring books that she would donate to the children’s hospital with a pack of crayons for each coloring book.
“The great thing about Ursuline is that they really love to push their students to be involved in service,” she says. “The biggest thing is being willing to trust your instinct, and if there is something you think will be of service to others, go for it. Be willing to adventure with your passion and have perseverance.”
Though McKinney’s passion for art is not new, the book was a venture outside of her typical mediums of traditional painting and drawing.
“I had to research where to print the copies, how to reach out to the hospital, how to create a crowdfunding site,” McKinney says. “Even researching each of the endangered animals so I could make sure the information was reliable took a lot of time. I had to be committed.”
McKinney aimed to raise enough money to publish 500 books within a month of starting her crowdfunding campaign, but she was able to raise twice the amount in the first day.
“I am glad that there are so many others out there who are as passionate as I am about giving back to kids and raising awareness for endangered species,” she says. “I was able to produce 1,000 books instead of 500, which is just really amazing.”
When she isn’t coming up with a new artistic creation, McKinney is participating in many extracurriculars, including the Ursuline swim team and the sailing club. She also serves as an officer of the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society and vice president of the French National Honor Society.
