A group of local young ladies earned recognition for their collective desire to reach out to their community.
Six members of Girl Scout Troop No. 14869 recently completed their Silver Award projects, by providing services geared toward helping others, said troop co-leader Donna Manley.
“It’s for them to identify a problem or situation in their community and come up with a solution for that — a solution that will be self-sustaining,” said Manley. “It serves as a stepping stone to the highest Girl Scout award — the Gold Award — which they will complete next as Senior Scouts. By completing their Silver Award Projects, these girls have shown their leadership, organizational skills, determination, and dedication to positively impacting their local community.”
Manley’s 15-year-old daughter, Olivia Summey, is a freshman at Ola High School and has been a Girl Scout for seven years. For her Silver Award project, she designed age- and gender-specific drawings, collected donations for art supplies, and created approximately 350 individualized art kits for patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to use repeatedly. Summey also painted an inspirational canvas that is on display at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital.
Summey said she sees art as “therapeutic” for patients. “I wanted to do something for the kids at CHOA because I felt like the older kids were left out of the activities there,” she said. “When I was younger, I used to have to make pretty regular visits, and I loved all the art that was around the hospital.”
Summey said she felt a need to “spread a little positivity” at CHOA during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said kids with weakened immune systems are currently unable to have visitors or interact with crafts and art at the hospital.
In response, she created art sheets with encouraging phrases and pictures to put smiles on patients’ faces. Summey also painted a sunrise with the heading “Let Your Light Shine” for the volunteers at CHOA, to remind them to let their own lights shine while carrying out their duties.
Union Grove High School sophomore Allie Robson completed her Silver Award project last year. She built a 15-foot Halter Hut for the therapeutic horse riding facility at the Calvin Center in Hampton. Robson, 15, joined the Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten. She launched her project by inquiring about the needs for horses at the Calvin Center.
She worked for two months to meet those needs by creating the Halter Hut to house devices that are used to guide the horses.
“I’ve been riding horses for nine years now, and we actually have horses at my house,” said Robson. “I enjoyed that I got to help people and make their jobs easier. I also enjoyed that I got to see the animals every day while I was out there working.”
Allie’s mother, Jennifer Robson, is a co-leader for the troop and served as a mentor for those who completed their projects this year. She said each troop member put in 50 hours of work — reaching out to the public for donations, securing materials, and designing their projects — to obtain their Silver Awards.
“The goal of the Silver Award, and the Girl Scouts as a whole, is to teach girls to see an issue or problem, find a solution and figure out how to take action,” said Jennifer Robson.
Robin Sherwood, 15, is in 10th grade at Union Grove High School in McDonough. For her Silver Award project in 2019, Sherwood designed and made a trio of flower boxes for residents at the GoldenCrest assisted living facility in Morrow, where her grandfather resided at the time.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved nature,” said Sherwood. “With this, they have something to escape reality and have something pretty to look at and be closer to nature.”
Sherwood has been in the Girl Scouts for seven years, and said it enables her to find ways to make the community better.
Kaitlyn Jones and Chloe Mevissen, both freshmen at Locust Grove High School, joined the Girl Scouts around the same time eight years ago. For their project, they combined their efforts to design and build a pair of collection pantries, each measuring five feet tall.
Jones, 14, said her long-held affinity for animals compelled her to use her project as a way to meet their needs.
“I know that animal shelters struggle to get the supplies they need,” said Jones. “I wanted to help them get those supplies.”
Mevissen, also 14, worked previously with the local 4-H Dog Club and is a lifelong animal lover. She said Henry County Animal Initiative founder Jennifer Evans helped her and Jones to make their project the best it could be.
“The original idea was a bit different, but we worked with Jennifer to make it what we have now,” said Mevissen.
The pantries, said Mevissen, are to be used as drop-off locations for canned animal food donated to the Animal Initiative. One of the pantries is located at Tractor Supply Company in McDonough. “We both love animals, so we just really wanted to do something to help them,” said Mevissen. The pantry endeavor marks the fifth time that the Animal Initiative has collaborated with the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. Evans said her group has helped young people attain three Silver awards and two Eagle awards.
“We were delighted,” said Evans. “After a good portion is collected, we will distribute it to the rescues in Henry County. The Animal Initiative will keep some of the cat food for our Trap, Neuter and Return program for feral cats.”
Chloe’s mother, Angela Mevissen, said her daughter and Jones are currently looking for a home for one of the pantries, which was housed previously at Queen Bee Coffee in McDonough. The girls’ project, she said, has generated a positive response from local residents.
“They’ve collected hundreds of cans so far,” said Angela Mevissen. “People have even donated toys, leashes and collars as well.”
Della Ray, 14, is in the ninth grade at Locust Grove High School. A Girl Scout for the last three years, she used her project to create hats for premature babies at McDonough Pediatric.
Ray has four siblings, with another on the way. She said her passion for children inspired her to complete the project.
“I love babies,” said Ray. “They’re so cute. [The hats] were distributed to my pediatrician’s office where all of my siblings go.”
Ray said she worked for about a month and a half, using soft yarn, to make 58 hats for the endeavor. She said parents of premature babies often have a difficult time finding hats for them due to their size.
Troop members said being in Girl Scouts enables them to gain friendships, learn new skills and make a difference in their community.
