[00:00:00] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:00:14] Sheryl: Welcome to hearts of gold today. We have Molly with us. Hi Molly.
[00:00:19] Molly: Hello.
[00:00:19] Sheryl: Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award?
[00:00:23] Molly: I built two wooden shelves for the veterans outreach center, they were about like six feet tall and 19 inches deep. And so I gave those to the veterans outreach center and then I conducted two drives for pet food and pet supplies.
[00:00:40] And I gave those to the veterans outreach center to help stock the shelves. Cause that’s what they said they needed most.
[00:00:47] Sheryl: How did you pick veterans outreach center to be your partner?
[00:00:51] Molly: I’m very passionate about the environment, about helping other people. And I’ve always been passionate about veterans.
[00:00:56] So I was like debating on what exactly to do. And then we had a family reunion and three of my relatives are veterans. So I was talking to them and I got really inspired. And since like, I want to. Help veterans. And I decided that that’s how I would start my gold award project. And so I’ve reached out to the veterans outreach center cause I had some ideas for what I could do, but like I wanted to see what would be most helpful to them.
[00:01:26] Sheryl: Can you tell us about the food drives that you did?
[00:01:29] Molly: I did two different food drives the first there’s this club in where I live and it’s called the rotary club and they do monthly food drives. So I asked them if I could partner with them for the month of April for their food drive. And I asked if they could also, instead of just doing people food, if they could also collect.
[00:01:51] Pet pet food and pet toys. And so they agreed to that, which is really nice. So they collected a good amount of pet food and pet toys, but what was also nice is they had some leftover food that they weren’t all going to donate to the pantry that they normally support. So they gave it to me to also donate to the veterans outreach center.
[00:02:09] So it was a nice little add on to the pet food and pet toys that I donated. And then the second drive I did was I conducted. A drive through neighborhoods kind of in the scouting for food, like style. So I created a flyer and I put them around all of the houses in several neighborhoods. And then I also asked other girl scout troops, if they’d be willing to help.
[00:02:33] And a few of them said yes, so I gave them flyers and they put it around their neighborhoods too. And. So, and on it, I said, just leave out any donations that you have, and I’ll come around the next Saturday and I’ll collect them. And so people just left out donations and it worked wonderfully. And there were also some people who
[00:02:55] I got a really good response to it. There were some people who weren’t going to be there that Saturday, but they really wanted to donate. So they called me up and they were like, can I donate early? Both of the drives were very successful. And yeah.
[00:03:09] Sheryl: What did you learn about hosting the drive?
[00:03:11] Molly: There’s a lot more effort that goes in behind the scenes than you originally think.
[00:03:16] But I also learned how willing the community is to. Get together and help out for a cause I got so many compliments on my project. People thought it was an amazing idea. They were more than willing to support. And many people don’t think of the veterans outreach center as you can donate pet food or pet supplies or toys.
[00:03:39] So. Many people were surprised about that. So kind of as a side effect of my project, like now every one that I talked to. Who saw my drives that I did will now know that they can donate there any time that they can. So I think I learned that like the community really comes together and I really just saw like the good in the world during this project.
[00:04:03] Sheryl: Can you tell us about how you planned your shelf build and what you learned during that part?
[00:04:09] Molly: I had never built anything before I, not even like a small wooden box. So I was really just jumping in with two huge shelves. So I had no clue what I was doing, but luckily my dad is very good at woodworking. So he kind of walked me through the process.
[00:04:28] He like, he taught me how exactly to build shelves and how to like how to do everything. And we did run into quite a few roadblocks. But having him there was helpful because he showed me different ways that you could like put things together. So. I really learned from him. And it was very helpful because watching a YouTube video, like I can get the basics, but in the YouTube video, everything would go perfectly.
[00:04:56] And that is not how my project went at all. So it like, it was a large learning process, but it was very helpful to have him there because I could not have done it without him. Will you ever build anything again? Yeah, it was very fun. I definitely want to, I’m trying to convince my girl scout troop leader to set up like a woodworking event.
[00:05:18] Cause I think that would be a fun troop project and I definitely want to continue building.
[00:05:24] Sheryl: How did you see your leadership skills improved during your project?
[00:05:28] Molly: At first, I didn’t really communicate very well. I was just like very slow at getting things done. My project took a while because I started ninth grade and you can go till senior year.
[00:05:42] So I really just didn’t take any control of my project really. It was very spread out. But then. Like throughout working on it. I realized, okay, I need to get this done. I need to, as soon as someone emails me, I need to respond back like right away. I can’t wait all this time. So. I definitely learned how to be a better communicator, how to get things done efficiently.
[00:06:10] So I like set a timeframe and I was like, okay, I have a lot to do, but I’m going to finish this in a month. And I forced myself to do it all. Then I definitely learned how to take more responsibility during my project. Yeah. And how to get on top of things. Like I said before, it was my dad for the building advisor.
[00:06:30] He was very helpful. And then my advisor at the VOC was very helpful. I know him through school. His name is Mr. Mallory. And he. Works with the rotary club. So he was able to get me that connection for the rotary food drive. So that was really helpful. And also all the girl scout troops that conducted my drive they were also great.
[00:06:56] I had a lot of people helping me.
[00:06:58] Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it?
[00:07:01] Molly: Procrastinating was a bit hard at first. But eventually I was, like I said, I set a timeframe and I forced myself to do it. And I set goals for each week. And I’m was like, I’m going to get it done.
[00:07:14] And that was definitely a challenge. And then another challenge was my first adviser at the veterans outreach center. He left. But since I had not been working on my project for so long, I wasn’t really in contact with him. So he, I don’t think I was in his mind when he left. So he didn’t let me know that he left.
[00:07:35] So I Was when I started getting back into my project, after I took a little break, I was emailing him. Consistently I was a little bit confused why he wasn’t responding. So there was like a, another break in my project. And, but eventually I found another advisor who like, I filled in everything and she was very helpful and very supportive and helped me get it.
[00:07:59] Sheryl: That happens often during girl scout projects where people change positions. And so they’re no longer able to help you in the same way. What tips do you have from your experience for girls that might might go through that in order to be successful in getting the project back off the ground?
[00:08:15] Molly: When I originally reached out to the VOC, I asked them what needs to be done.
[00:08:20] And I was put in contact with two different people cause they both had ideas for different projects. And my first advisor was the advisor who gave me the idea for my project. So. I went with him, but the other person that they had put me in touch with who I didn’t end up doing her project, but I reached out to her and she agreed to be my advisors.
[00:08:41] So I would just suggest, like, getting to know everyone here, all different ideas, I guess before starting your project, because you never know which one you’ll like, and if you have a bunch of contacts. You can, you never know like how they could help you, even if I wasn’t, even if like, I didn’t end up meeting her as an advisor, I could have used her, her as a resource another way.
[00:09:04] So definitely just get to know the place you’re working with and reach out to people. And if you don’t happen to do that, then reach out to your organization, see if there’s anyone else that could possibly help. And everyone is very kind. So I’m sure there’ll be someone.
[00:09:20] Sheryl: What’s a favorite memory from your project?
[00:09:22] Molly: The feeling of when I finally finished the shelves that was very rewarding. I enjoyed going around the neighborhoods putting out flyers cause I did it with one of my best friends. Who’s also in girl Scouts. So that was a really fun memory. And then. Probably the most fulfilling and the best one is when I donated the shelves and all the pet food and supplies to the veterans outreach center because they were just so grateful and they were amazed with how many donations I got.
[00:09:57] So it was really great just to see how grateful they were and. The lady there had, she was like, oh, every day we get people coming in asking if we have pet food. And we keep having to have to say, no, we don’t have any, but they like, now we can finally say that we do have some, so thank you so much.
[00:10:18] And it was just really great to know that I could help them.
[00:10:22] Sheryl: Were you able to build into your project plans for how to keep the pet food stocked for them?
[00:10:27] Molly: So, like I mentioned before, Mr. Mallory who was the leader of the rotary drive. I know him through school because he is the leader of what I’m involved in called interact club.
[00:10:40] It’s like a club that offers people in my school volunteer opportunities. So one of the things that we’re gonna try to do. Try to do this drive like a yearly thing or have them sponsor me like once a year or so. So that will, so that’s, I think something we’re going to do, and then no one really thought of veterans outreach center as a place where you could donate any like extra pet food you had or anything.
[00:11:09] So I think now that people saw my flyers. I think they’ll be getting some more donations.
[00:11:17] Sheryl: What other girl scout activities have you been involved?
[00:11:19] Molly: For my bronze award, we started a roots and shoots chapter. It’s a program that Jane Goodall created. So we started that here, where I live. And then for my silver award, we volunteered at the Sojourner house, which is a homeless shelter for women and children.
[00:11:39] And we kind of worked with the children to give the moms a break. And give the children some fun in their day. So those were two of the, probably the biggest activities we did with our girl scout troop. Those were also probably the most fun. And then we’ve gone to like a few camps as a troop.
[00:11:58] Sheryl: From what you can remember with your bronze and your silver award, and now your gold award how did the skills that you learned at each one of those levels help you with the next award?
[00:12:08] Molly: Silver award, we kind of kept like a group journal of the time that we did. So seeing how we laid that all out, but being able to do it together gave me a good idea of how I would do it by myself for my gold award.
[00:12:23] So that was very helpful. And like seeing the organization that we did communication And then being able to problem solve when things didn’t go our way. I have gotten better at that. But like all awards, nothing, all the awards you get in girl Scouts, nothing is going to go perfectly. So I definitely learned how to.
[00:12:48] Figure that out first with like my troop and then like a few other girls with me. And then for my gold award, I was able to build on that and problem solve by myself.
[00:13:00] Sheryl: What is in your future?
[00:13:01] Molly: I’m looking at colleges now. I think I want to go to college in like the Northeast area. Definitely want snow I love, I love the snow.
[00:13:10] But I think I want to study environmental science or maybe. Maybe biology, maybe psychology or an, or engineering. So somewhere, probably in that realm, I don’t know what career I want to go in. Exactly. But I do know that whatever career I do, I want to make a positive impact. Whether that’s like helping people, the environment or animals, like I want to do something that has a positive change.
[00:13:40] Sheryl: Is there anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:13:43] Molly: Don’t give up. It’s a long road, but it’s very fulfilling and you’re going to be glad you did it. You’re going to learn so many skills. You just feel amazing when you’re done. You know, you completed this great project and you. Learn so much about yourself.
[00:14:00] It can be a great stepping point for, Hey, I really liked working with veterans or I really liked helping the environment. Maybe I want to study that and go. Like study that in college, maybe have that as a possible career. Something like involved with that. So you definitely learned a lot about yourself and once you’re done and also along the way, like, it’s definitely very fulfilling.
[00:14:25] So keep going, you’ll get there.
[00:14:28] Sheryl: How do you make your smores?
[00:14:29] Molly: I’m interesting because I kinda eat them all separately. I don’t put it altogether. So. Yeah, I, I don’t know. I like them separate.
[00:14:40] Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining us.
[00:14:42] Molly: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:14:44] Sheryl: Make sure to click, follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released and make sure to power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:14:55] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions. Thank you for listening and spreading the word on what we do. If you want to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com.
[00:15:22] Be sure to listen to the newest episodes on your favorite podcast app, as well as view the full video episodes on youtube.com/SherylMRobinson. That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care, and we’ll see you next time.