NEWBURYPORT — There’s a smiling young face among the many artists downtown and this Newburyport High School student is hoping her art will help people suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Molly Quill, 17, who will be a senior this fall, has set up a tent in Market Square for the week of Yankee Homecoming, selling her drawings along with some photography prints that her friend, 17-year-old Eliza Nelson, donated.

Quill possesses a natural talent for the arts, readily apparent in her sketches and drawings. She has been drawing since she was a young child. So far, the response to her art and her charity has been good.

“Along with the money I’ve made from selling the prints, I’ve also made money just from donations from people walking by,” said Quill, who made almost $200 on Sunday. “My family and friends have also been very supportive and have made donations towards the walk also.”

The money Quill is raising will go toward the minimum fundraising goal of $1,500 for the MS Challenge Walk in September. She has entered the walk and agreed to raise the money because her aunt, who is a Salisbury resident, was diagnosed with MS at age 35, Quill said.

Quill said her aunt, who is now in her 50s, gets around just fine, but is still not the same since the day she found out she had it — which is the principal reason Quill, along with her uncle, will be participating.

The walk is a three-day, 50-mile experience that benefits the 400,000-plus people who are living with MS.

The walk begins in Hyannis, where walkers work their way 20 miles toward Brewster via Yarmouth. The second day takes participants 20 miles through Orleans and Eastham and then back to Brewster. On the last day of the walk, walkers head 10 miles to Dennis for a “pre-finish” with a barbecue and a massage for the walkers. From there, participants are bused back in Hyannis, where everyone will walk the final half-mile together with participants who have MS leading them to the finish.

Quill will be selling her art downtown all week from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Saturday.

For more information regarding the MS Challenge Walk, visit www.nationalmssociety.org