Personal Narrative: My Girl Scout Silver Project

I remember seeing my pinewood derby car going down the track; it was silver, blue letters on it that said sonic and black wheels that sounded like a hot wheels car going down a track. I was only 6 years old when that happened. Now I stand in front of the board representing Boy Scouts of America, ¨Congratulations, you are officially an Eagle Scout.¨ It hits me all the sudden like a wave hitting a sea wall, an 11 year journey just ended and it’s time to see the outcome.

The year is 2016, it is a cold and rainy Tuesday afternoon. My father, John Carey, and I are driving to Sherman, Texas. Once I reach Sherman I will go before a board of leaders in order to achieve the ranking of Eagle Scout. I am incredibly nervous, anxious, but really I am ready to get into the meeting and show them that I am trustworthy and capable of achieving such an honor. As we pull up to the church where the meeting will be held, I realize that I could possibly not be ready. I have gone over my project, which they will be asking questions about, a million times. Not to mention I am the one who orchestrated the planning and everything about the project, so I am very familiar with it. Yet, I sit and wonder what if they ask that one question

Through completing my silver award alongside two other Girl Scouts (Hailey Lichey and Autumn Klein) from our Troop 5939, I have learned a great deal of what it takes to truly earn such an award as the Silver Award. Overall, my favorite part of working on our Silver Award was to see our book drive really start to come together and to really see that only three girls could make such a difference and actually be doing something to involve the community, including our school and the library. It really did make me feel like I could accomplish even more things such as this if given the task again. I now know through creating a book drive for our local Children’s hospital that there are a lot more children who go to either outpatient or inpatient

The Saint Jude Bike-a-thon was a fundraiser my high school’s JROTC program ran every year to raise money for Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, a unique facility that primarily works to cure children with cancer. Unlike other hospitals, the majority of funding for St. Jude comes from generous donors. It costs $2 million to operate

In the course of my time at Union County College, I was able to participate in measures that aided my community and those in need. I took part in the donation and creation of care bags which were donated to the Salvation Army. This initiative was made by AESNJ as part of their statewide drive to help those who lack the resources needed to obtain day to day necessities such as hygienic supplies, socks, tissues and other essentials. Additionally, I made a financial contribution which went towards aiding Syrian children. Helping individuals in need encouraged me to participate in Strides against Breast Cancer a walkathon which generated money for women whose lives were impacted by cancer. The financial donations assisted women who were unable

The National Honor Society has gave me the opportunity to help others in ways that I could not have done on my own. I have had the opportunity to help many in our community with our multiple different community service projects. Last year we sold raffle tickets for a gift card basket. All of the money that we earned went to a family in our community who had been through devastating house fire. They lost not only there house but all of their personal belongings too. The fact that we have the opportunity to help those around us makes the service projects seem even more meaningful. We also took up donations of paper products to give to the Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House is a place where families can stay while they have a child at the Ruby Memorial Hospital. They can stay there for as long as

BETA Club and National Honor Society promote academic excellence and service, therefore I have helped in several events. For example, I gathered boxes filled with toys for impoverished children. Also, I helped host a dinner to honor local veterans in an effort to give thanks to those who have sacrificed everything in the name of service. Interact Club has also given me ample opportunities to help my community, from setting up a food drive to making blankets for Project Linus. These clubs instilled a strong sense of service within me and motivated me to find more ways to which to help my town.

We mostly raised money by selling goods, but I was driven to be an example of giving back by providing a good attitude, lessons to inspire kindness, and implemented events. When I realized how much money my ideas made, I couldn't stop innovating new ways to promote our purpose. This drove me to do more which lead me to go speak on television and ask for donations during my chorus concert. As I thanked them, I reminded them how grateful we are to be a part of a community that's bonded together by love. When we reached our goal of $15,000, we used that money to buy a student glasses, send a child to the doctors, bought some clothes for someone in need, etc. Holiday Hope inspired me and taught me how one person could make a huge impact while bringing people

The summer before high school, I decided it was time to get involved in the community. A close family friend who attended my church offered a volunteer position with her organization called Clothes to You that supplies low-income families with free attire. The non-profit organization resonated closely with me as my tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, suffers from severe financial hardships, and realizing how life changing an organization such as this could be I promptly accepted her offer. On designated days we drove the mobile van to predetermined locations and transformed the desolate parking lot to a bustling shopping center. People of all ages filled the aisles and I assisted shoppers searching for outfits as varied as interview

Recently, the Chick-fil-A Leadership Academy asked me to organize an event for a charitable cause. I recommended we host a fundraising concert for the family of a coma-stricken local 5th grade student recently hit by a school bus.

After much thought about what I would want to for my volunteer project, I finally settled on the “Feed the Homeless” campaign organized by the Southwest Rotary Club of Las Vegas. This experience allowed me to work with the fantastic organization, Rotary International, and has given me the opportunity to better myself, both personally and professionally, through working with great people and overcoming the challenges presented to me.

Devastated, with only a weeks time left, I took a huge chance and worked extremely hard to get what I needed in a weeks time. for twelve hours, I knocked on doors, spread the word about my page, posted it all over social media platforms, walked dogs, etc. to try. Because of believing in myself, In 3 days, word of mouth had spread so much all over Seattle, that my gofundme.com page had gone viral and had raised $4.6 thousand dollars in 72 hours or less. My community didn't let me down, and they believed in my talent as a

It was a cold Saturday evening, the leaves of trees were falling and stress was in the air, I was assigned a group project for AP environmental science in which I had to do research for a nearly extinct animal. I noticed that days before it was due that it wasn't done yet, so I called up my partners to work on it.

With current technology and social media there are more ways than ever to donate time and money. I’ve included a long list of resources for you to scour at the back of the book. But sometimes so much information is overwhelming, and when people get overwhelmed they can shut down. This is why I encourage people to consider small acts of kindness and community service a part of their philanthropy. Again, this is the balance between looking out to the horizon and being aware of the larger systems at play, while having a softer gaze that’s closer to home. You can start with yourself and recognize some of the small differences you can make in your community.

Donations were ordered from people living in over 6 countries (Vietnam, USA, Ethiopia, China, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and Mexico). In such a short time, my sporadic Facebook Live rant became a global hurricane relief initiative. That morning, I walked into the Walmart with absolutely no clue of what to expect.