Mackle, with her family, accepts the key from Day (right)
WEST NYACK – When someone scrawled anti-Semitic graffiti in front of a number of homes on her Pomona block last month, Millicent “Ivey” Mackle responded by drawing hearts in front of the residences as a sign of love and respect.
As a result of her action, Rockland County Executive Edwin Day presented her with the Key to the County on Tuesday.
“All it takes is one person to make a different,” Day said as he presented her with the award at the Jewish Community Center in West Nyack. “What Ivey told people who hate is: ‘Not here, not in my neighborhood’.”
Mackle and her husband, Dan, have lived on the street for five years. Both attended along with their 14-month-old twins, Jack and Emily.
“Ivey Mackle made a difference and her actions spoke with the voice of thousands,” Day said. “She brought unity and pride in a manner that no rally nor parade could have by drawing ‘hearts over hate’ – a simple, yet powerful statement.”
Mackle is the second recipient of the Key to the County. The first was Grace Vanderwaal, a 13-year-old Suffern girl who won the America’s Got Talent contest last summer, when she was 12.
