Salena Sullivan was in Target not long ago when a stranger came up to her to say she'd been licking envelopes on her behalf.

It's been that way since a June 13 newspaper story on the William Fleming High School valedictorian, an article that traced her academic arc from public housing in Roanoke to Harvard University, where she'll head next week to begin her freshman year.

At the Gainsboro branch library, Sullivan's second home since infancy, well-wishers she didn't know showed up with $100 checks for her. "People are more generous than I'd ever imagined," said branch manager Carla Lewis, Sullivan's boss and longtime mentor. "One lady stopped by to give us $5, saying, 'This is all I can give, but I wanted to give something. I'm just so proud.'

"That $5 from her meant every bit as much as $300 from somebody else," Lewis said. The fund has accumulated more than $1,000, she said.

Though Sullivan was awarded nearly a full ride to the Ivy League school, it hasn't kept library patrons and strangers alike from chipping in for her other expenses -- like that new Dell computer that had previously been beyond her reach.

Mitchell Brumfield, a Roanoke County hairdresser, was so moved by Sullivan's story that he sent out 250 fundraising letters to his friends and clients announcing that he'd set up a fund in her name at Valley Bank for her college spending money. That was his friend, the envelope stuffer, who spotted Sullivan at Target.

"I'd love to see her be able to get through Harvard without having to take a part-time job," said Brumfield, who plans to deposit money monthly into the account. "With four years of Harvard under her belt, the kid is destined for great things."

Though he didn't attend college himself and has no children of his own, Brumfield said he was extremely moved by Sullivan's drive. The only child of single mother Tanya Sullivan, "Salena stayed focused on school and kept her forward momentum going at all times," he said.

"I just hope there would be a lot of parents in this valley who passed her story on to their children. It shows that each of us can be motivated to do more than we even know we're capable of doing -- if we stay committed."

Sullivan and her mother have been surprised and thrilled by the response. Former co-workers from Tanya Sullivan's days as a Kmart clerk dropped by the library with money in hand. When her car broke down recently, she took the bus to work for three weeks -- and was greeted with congratulations from bus drivers who still recall her little girl riding the bus with her, back before they owned a car.

City Manager Darlene Burcham turned out for Sullivan's graduation party at the Gainsboro branch -- with a Harvard-clad stuffed teddy bear in tow. Longtime patrons stuffed gift cards and cash into a basket, and community leader Evelyn Bethel brought her a set of canvas duffel bags, each one stuffed with school supplies.

"She's like everybody's child, I tell you," Tanya Sullivan said.

Mother and daughter spent the summer together going to movies and cheering through the Olympics. Salena Sullivan performed in a Showtimers play and served as fill-in choreographer for a church musical. At Roanoke's Juneteenth festival, she got her picture taken with poet Nikki Giovanni and squealed.

Through Facebook, she's corresponded with her future roommates -- one's originally from Russia, the other of Indian descent. "One likes to knit, so we're already talking about being old ladies together and knitting," Sullivan enthused.

When she attends the Fox Network-sponsored "So You Think You Can Dance" tour in Boston this fall -- yes, she already has her ticket-- chances are, she'll be going alone. She worries, a little, that her roommates don't share her enthusiasm for TV, though she's not surprised; it is Harvard, after all.

But Salena will always be Salena; her friends and family members are sure. "She's hungry for the learning and the experience," Lewis said.

"She's already experienced us. She's ready to go."

Contributions for Salena Sullivan's college spending-money fund can be made at any of the Valley Bank branches. For more information, e-mail Brumfield at Mitchell.s.brumfield@att.net.