SENNETT - Maybe it is the thread of light on a cloud-covered day that creates a silver lining.

The sun was shining at the benefit held for accident victim Amy Rankin in the Sennett Fire House Sunday.

"You see all this? This is who Amy is," said Jessica Sedgwick, one of Amy's closest friends and college roommate. "All this is a testimony to her. She's one of the nicest people, but she has a strong will - and she wanted to make a difference."

What was going on in that hall Sunday, filled with volunteers, college friends, members of the community, and family members will most likely make a difference in Amy's future. She is in the process of recovering from a severe head trauma she sustained nearly a year ago while walking home from a restaurant in Baltimore when a car ran off the road and struck her and her friend.

Her friend did not survive.

Those in the pink jerseys, helping out up front with the 50/50 raffles were her Dickenson College friends and fellow sorority sisters. Attendants could buy their own Amy T-shirt for $10.

While she has difficulty with memory and communicating, Amy sat near the front in a wheelchair, smiling with every greeting, in a football jersey which was part of a Halloween costume she and her friends once wore in college.

The homemade ziti and baked goods were prepared by volunteers. Local businesses donated many products to the event. Moonlight emceed an auction and also provided music.

Among the many items from retailers and friends in the area up for auction were two footballs autographed by Baltimore Ravens players Todd Heap and Ray Lewis, who are Amy's favorite players.

Amy is making consistent progress with her physical therapy.

"We've seen some real improvement just this past week," said her father, Bill Rankin. "Her walking is improving and her speech has come a long way."

Perhaps not only Amy's personality, but her career is helping her in her recovery as well.

"Amy has always been a very independent girl,"Bill Rankin said. "When she graduated from college, she took off to Baltimore. She taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade special education at Stemmer's Run school there. That was Amy."

"She wants to go back to graduate school," said Bill Rankin. "The money we get here will help enable us to someday make that possible."

"The community organized all this while we were in Baltimore," he said, looking down at the floor.

"It's just very, very nice."