At seven years old, Dorian Pillsbury was swinging a baseball bat, playing catch with his friends, dreaming of being a professional athlete, and picking his first of many causes that he would support over the next five years.
Sitting in his second-grade classroom, he looked around and noticed that some of his classmates did not have anything to eat at snack time. When he got home, he asked his mom, Lisa Liberatore, what they could do to help. Together, they brainstormed ways to give back.
“I started by helping kids in need and now I have moved toward helping the community and helping those in need like the homeless and making sure that there’s always food on the table for families,” said Dorian.
What started as a fundraiser for one classroom turned into a school-wide fund. Today, the “D-Max Snack Squad” continues to host events to raise money for the Brewer Community School Snack Fund, which buys and donates snacks to his school. In 2021, Dorian hosted an apple cider stand, raising $1,275 for the snack fund; one year later, he hosted a lemonade stand, raising another $800 for the fund; and in 2023, Dorian added another $1,500 to the fund by hosting a mini-golf tournament at a local golf course. While the Snack Squad continues to be a focus for Dorian, his efforts reach beyond the classroom, as well.
“I was excited when Dorian came to me with his first fundraising goal. Being an entrepreneur, I love solving problems and I love empowering him with the tools to be able to do that, so it has been really wonderful to go on that journey and to teach him the framework of being a successful entrepreneur,” said Liberatore. “He is able to develop those skills and learn how to leverage networks and I get to help by adding some extra adult strength with his wonderful childhood passion.”
Since the start of Dorian’s efforts, the mother-son duo has set a goal for each fundraiser, which they know can’t be reached without the support of their community.
“It’s just incredible. With every fundraiser, we set a goal, and we work really hard towards it, and we always blow it out of the water and that’s because of the people that we didn’t know before the fundraiser who come out and support us,” said Liberatore. “That’s the best part. Dorian is able to stand up and invite everyone to help solve a problem that everybody sees, so he steps up and the community supports him. Every time we do a fundraiser we make new friends.”
When Dorian is not raising funds for the snack squad, he is finding new, unique ways to bring smiles to the community. Most recently, ahead of his 12th birthday, Dorian knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate – collecting funds and supplies to make sure everyone had a chance to celebrate their birthday with a cake.
“I figured, ‘hey, it’s my birthday, I might as well make sure that kids can celebrate their birthday with an amazing cake,” said Dorian. “It was just so much fun to have everybody reach out and ask how they can help. The local theater reached out to help and food pantries reached out to let us know they would take our cake mixes, frosting and candles.”
Before the start of the fundraiser, Dorian set the goal to get enough funds and supplies to donate 200 cakes. Thanks to the help of his community, his 12th birthday was celebrated with a donation of nearly 400 birthday cakes to local food pantries.
“We had somebody come from a food pantry that is about 20 minutes outside of town. They drove all the way into town to pick up donations to take back to the pantry after seeing a news article about Dorian and what he was trying to do,” said Liberatore. “She later sent us a note explaining that usually food pantries get old, already prepared cakes donated from stores. But since we donated ingredients, one kid who got them from the pantry was so excited to go home with his mom and make the cake together. Those simple joys of bringing parent and child together to do something, whether its raising lots of money and building community, or as simple as making a cake, it’s all about finding those opportunities to bond and treasure those moments together.”
For his efforts within his community, as well as his inspiration on the baseball field with Brewer (Maine) Little League, Dorian was recognized as a Little League Community Hero, Presented by New York Life, in February 2025. Since 2020, the Community Heroes recognition program has highlighted those dedicated individuals who not only volunteer their time at your local Little League program but also contribute in other ways to make the community better. For anyone who is looking to give back in their community, Dorian has a few pieces of advice.
“Keep trying and keep reaching out. Use your social media to really push and ask people for help if you need it. Keep pushing and keep trying harder to get that next goal,” said Dorian. “I had a goal for like 200 cakes and I ended up getting about 400. It was insane and so cool. So just keep trying. The sky is the limit.”
To learn more about the Little League Community Heroes recognition program, Presented by New York Life, and to nominate a Community Hero in your league, visit LittleLeague.org/Community Heroes.