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Before and After[/caption]
Ella rocks. I knew this about 20 seconds into our first phone conversation. Or perhaps I had a glimmering even before we spoke, when I learned why she and her parents had come into our store seeing if we could donate some supplies to her project.
Ella, and two other Girl Scouts in her troop, were working on their Silver Award. I thought, “That sounds like a fairly important award - Gold, Silver, Bronze, and all that.” What I soon learned is that a Silver Award entails 50 hours of community service. Let’s let that one sink in a bit – 50 hours. From someone who’s only 13.
We were more than happy to support her efforts, and Katie, Ella’s mom, was so pleased with our employees, she sent me an email with photos and a great big thank you to everyone at our store.
Katie had previously volunteered with
InnVision Shelter Network and Ella was moved by the drab playground at one of the locations. That’s when she decided where she would spend her time earning her Silver Award - bringing light and fun, energy and color, to a children’s space that was otherwise brown and overgrown with weeds.
The weekend neared to install the projects the girls had created over several months – a sandbox to be placed where once there was only tanbark; a sensory garden - child-height - where sage, rosemary, geranium and lavender were planted to waft their gorgeous scents at the brush of a small person passing through; a long, plain, concrete corridor floor painted bright with hopscotch and footprints.
I was so impressed by what Ella was doing and by her poise and grace, I offered to come help out. She and I talked on the phone a bit about her project and I got to spend some time working with her and the other volunteers that weekend. I saw the playground transform as they worked, and I experienced something wonderous – people helping out other people, just for the sake of adding some beauty and joy to the world.
So, to Katie and Ella and all the other volunteers on that warm, late-summer Sunday afternoon, building beauty and kindness: Here is my great big thank you right back. For for including our store in such a wonderful experience and contribution; for showing others that serving is also a blessing; for spreading color and joy in the world; and for helping just to help.
