Her mom is proud of how teen Shannon Hickey handled herself with America's most important people this week in Washington, D.C., for the president's State of the Union speech.

But it was something the cameras didn't capture, which almost no one saw, that made her ever more proud, mom Kelly Lynch said.

Because of her work with the homeless, 16-year-old Hickey was one of two dozen Americans invited to the White House and then over to the Capitol to hear and watch President Bush's speech.

Also invited was Wesley Autrey, the New York subway hero who earlier this month had saved a student's life on the subway tracks.

Autrey had his two little daughters along, and as they were all watching the president's speech, the little girls started getting antsy, fidgeting and wanting to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water, that sort of thing.

Lancaster Catholic High School junior Hickey, known for her heart to help the homeless, showed the same heart to the little girls, heading over and helping her new friend Autrey with the youngsters.

"When I heard about that, that she was trying to help ... that, in my mind, that's Shannon," said Lynch, who only got the call Monday inviting the teen's whole family to Washington for Tuesday's speech.

Hickey, who got back from D.C. with her family around 2 a.m. Wednesday, and then did early TV interviews before heading to school, admitted Thursday she was a little whupped.

Also, she's hardly a media hound - she'd much rather be working with the homeless, making sure they have food and clothing, than talking about herself into a camera or tape recorder, she explained.

"My main focus has always been ... if I make a difference in one person's life, then everything that we have ever done, all of the hardships and all the good times, it was all worth it," said Hickey, who had a liver transplant 16 years ago this coming Monday, when she was just 7 months old.

During that time, the Rev. Mychal Judge was a godsend to Hickey's family, who was living in northern New Jersey.

Shannon's father, Lynch's first husband, had left everyone's life. When the family had to go to Chicago for the liver transplant, it was a tough time.

Mychal "would just pray with us on the phone and get us through," Lynch added.

Mychal became known around the world as the priest who died while helping at the scene in the early hours of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Since his death, Hickey has collected and distributed more than 100,000 new items to people in need through her organization "Mychal's Message."

The family has a Web site, www.mychalsmessage.org, detailing upcoming projects.

"Since his death, by the grace of God, he's still with us," Lynch said. "Shannon taught us how to mourn his death, by celebrating his life ... she brought us to the homeless, and she asked to collect socks for her liver-transplant anniversary."

Hickey's mom said, "Her heart comes out in saying to a homeless person, ‘Do you need some underwear? Do you need a sandwich? Here, I'll get you a sandwich.' "

Back at school and back home, Hickey is just a regular high-schooler, taking tests, ice-skating at Clipper Magazine Stadium and hanging out with all of her dozen-plus friends who have become inseparable.

After all the hubbub of this week, Hickey said, "You go from being in Washington, D.C., and all the excitement and rushing around to being back and taking a test or whatever ... it's hard, but it's part of everything I'm called to do in life."

Lynch took on Hickey, her maiden name, for both Shannon and Lauren, her ex-husband's own 5-year-old girl (now 22).

She married Joseph Lynch in 1996, and they have raised Shannon and Lauren and had their own two children, Christopher, who's 8, and daughter Erin Mary, who's 5.

After this week's trip, both youngsters read reports about their experience to their second-grade and kindergarten classes, respectively, at their school, St. Leo's Catholic School in Rohrerstown.

For her liver transplant anniversary this year, Hickey did something in the first week of January, treating 400 Lancaster elementary-school youngsters, age 4 and 5, to "Sesame Street Live" at Hershey's Giant Center.

About 100 of her fellow Catholic High students chaperoned. Students also raised money to pay for the project.

"Here I am, watching Elmo," she said, "and to see the little kids sitting on the Catholic High kids' laps, and to see them interacting, I just started crying.

"It was just so amazing, to see the little kids and how happy they were."
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