SELINSGROVE -- A 9-year-old girl in Selinsgrove is taking it upon herself to make her community safer. The young girl is raising money to hire a new police officer in Selinsgrove because she feels there is too much crime.
You may remember Hilde Lysiak as the young author of her very own newspaper, "The Orange Street News."
The 9 year old from Selinsgrove noticed an increase in vandalism in her neighborhood. Now she wants the borough to hire another police officer and she's even helping them out.
"The Orange Street News" is a popular newspaper in Selinsgrove. Unless you knew the story behind it, you may not know it is written by a 9-year-old girl.
Hilde Lysiak spends her free time riding her bicycle looking for news.
"We are all super proud of Hilde," said her father Matt Lysiak. "It's interesting that most kids her age, at the age of 9, they love video games. Hilde loves journalism."
Recently, Hilde's reporting has led her to crime in Selinsgrove.
"It's not as big as a murder, but it's not really small. It's disturbing. Vandals have been ripping up plants, throwing eggs, and menacing people and businesses all over town," Hilde said.
People email Hilde about the vandalism but when she tries to talk to the police, she finds it hard to contact them.
"When I knock on the police's door, they never answer, not once."
Recently Hilde decided Selinsgrove needs another police officer. So she is taking it upon herself to raise the money to pay the officer's salary.
"It's $40,000 it takes to pay for a new police officer in Selinsgrove. That's a lot of money! How am I going to raise this much? I heard about this GoFundMe page and I thought it would be a great idea," she said.
"She's so well intentioned. She firmly believes that another police officer is needed in this area," Matt added.
Borough officials agree.
"The borough has, for the year 2016, budgeted to hire a new police officer," said borough manager Paul Williams.
Even though there are plans to hire a new police officer in Selinsgrove, Hilde still plans to keep her GoFundMe page up and running because she believes two officers are better than one.
"The more the better!" Hilde exclaimed.
"I think it's really something special," Williams added.
Hilde plans to attend Monday's Selinsgrove Borough Council meeting to discuss her plan with officials.
