After hearing that the proposed 2010-11 Pennsylvania state budget would leave a historic American Revolution battlefield without funds, Shaun Moran, a student at St. Augustine Preparatory School, Richland, decided to lead the charge to help the site.
A self-described “big history buff,” Shaun, 17, learned in May that Gov. Edward G. Rendell’s proposed 2010-11 state budget would not include the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s museum assistance program, making it difficult for the Brandywine Battlefield Park, in Delaware County, to stay open to the public.
The battlefield hosted the largest battle of the Revolution on Sept. 11, 1777, when Gen. George Washington led the Continental Army in battle against General William Howe and the British army.
Today, the battlefield opens only for special events.
Feeling that “a gem of our history is being tossed away,” Moran started selling American flag pins at his school, and after Masses at Divine Mercy Parish in Vineland, for $3 each.
So far, he has reached $140, $360 short of his stated goal of $500.