Orange Flamingos Take Over New Hampshire Town for 12-Year-Old Girl With Leukemia

Supporters hope the flamingos remind her that she's not alone.

August 24, 2016, 5:06 PM

— -- Orange flamingos have been popping up everywhere in Weare, New Hampshire, as part of a bright show of community support for young girl battling cancer.

Abby Van Dyke, a 12-year-old student at Weare Middle School, was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this month, according to her mother's friend Tippy Johnston.

Johnston knows Abby's mother Marlene Van Dyke. She said she and two other friends "wanted to do something for Abby to show her that she isn't alone and that she has our overwhelming support," she told ABC News. They chose orange because it's the official color for leukemia awareness, she said.

Johnston, Kim Burke and Kim Mucci created a Facebook group called #AbbyStrong "Army," where they've started a flamingo fundraiser. They've been selling orange plastic flamingos for $10 a piece to help raise money for Abby's medical expenses and, of course, to simply raise her spirits.

"It was mostly about getting as many out before she came home from the hospital, so she’d drive through town and see them, and know that everyone was thinking of her and praying for her and her family," Johnston told ABC affiliate WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The group has sold about 900 flamingos so far and 900 more are on their way, Johnston and her friends told ABC News.

"The town is incredibly close-knit," Mucci said. "Everyone knows everyone and we all help and look out for each other and each others’ kids. We don’t think twice about it."

The women added that the flamingo fundraiser has even started getting attraction in other parts of the state, the U.S. and even Canada.

Since Abby can't travel everywhere to see the flamingos, some people have asked to just have a flamingo with their name put in Abby's front yard. Others have been posting pictures to the #AbbyStrong "Army" Facebook page, which Abby and her family look through frequently.

"I think it's amazing how everyone is supporting me," Abby told WMUR in a statement. "I hope everyone with cancer gets this much support."