As Covid-19 started, everyone got nervous. I remember March 6th when my school called my parents in the morning announcing that the school will close for a week. I started thinking – oh well, I get a little break and then I will go back. Soon, everyday at breakfast times, me and parents would talk about changes happening in the world – numbers going up, people getting tested as positive, and events are being cancelled, everything closing down like malls, theatres and even my favorite place, Disney amusement parks.

During that time, I also heard that the elderly population was getting hurt the most. That affected me a lot. What about the elderly population that is all alone in life care centers? Their own kids cannot even meet them! I could not even imagine how scared and lonely they would feel – at least we have our family together!

One of those days, my Girl Scout troop leader sent a message to all my troop asking if we can send some good notes to the Senior Life Care Center in Stoneham. I absolutely fell in love with the idea but then I started thinking – I love Stoneham but elderly people in all towns and states are impacted with this. So, I decided to expand on the idea and do it for all life care centers across the country. I googled for the life care centers and realized that their were about 50 life care centers in 28 states. So, I started thinking on how can I make so many cards with my hands – given my disability, it will take a lot longer. Aha! Here comes my digital design and an opportunity to use Google slide to make cards! I found many different best wishes pictures and put them into a presentation. Now, I needed to just print them and put them into envelopes to mail. But, I was short of stamps at home 🙂 So, I ordered some stamps, waiting for them to come and then mailed 48 letters (each with 8-9 best wishes cards) into 26 states! The responses I got from them made me ecstatic! Some of them were emails, some pictures of the cards posted and some were pictures of Senior Residents and Nurses holding the cards smiling!

 

 

 

 

During Covid-19, I realized that I needed to find a way to help people in my community, so I started looking at what neighboring towns did to solve this problem. As I searched, I came across a website for Mutual Aid and realized that Stoneham was not listed in the Mutual Aid group. I thought that this would be a perfect way to help my community because it could inform everyone of the updates regarding Covid-19. I also put a volunteer and help request form because I realized how some families had to be locked at home due to nervousness or actual health issues. I connected people who needed help and the volunteers for delivering groceries deliveries and prescriptions, providing transportation picking up meals, and pet-sitting.

I got many appreciations, but I could not fulfill the requests for financial support that many people emailed me about. Hearing about job losses and other sad family circumstances, I vouched to connect my passion for pushing one physically beyond limits with the aspect of directly helping everyone. “Dare 3, Designate 5, Donate 15” is the GoFundMe campaign I started to motivate people to challenge themselves in physical activities, and also donate to help raise money for people in need during Covid-19 times. From the fundraiser, I was able to pass some Walgreens gift cards to Stoneham Senior Center and also donate at the Stoneham Food Bank. From these donations, came one thanks card that I will live up to. It said, “Donate turkeys during Thanksgiving!” Looking forward to doing this at Thanksgiving time!

[Update 11/27/2020] I passed Thanksgiving platters at the Stoneham Senior Center at the time of thanksgiving. Very happy to hear good words from them and super happy and thankful at this time of the year. 

I love being a girl scout troop member. Through out my years of being a member, I have had various opportunities to exhibit values like leadership, decision making, understanding and respect to our society and community.

I enjoy doing fun activities with other girls my age, but what I really enjoy is spreading kindness and being involved in my community through volunteering at different places. I have volunteered at many events including Town of Stoneham Halloween Stroll, Christmas Santa Meeting, Bingo nights, Me and My Gal Dance, Tree Lighting on Common, Memorial Day Parade, Cookie selling and Character Breakfast.

One of my favorite events to volunteer at is the Halloween Stroll. I love helping out with planning and helping out with the fun activities for little kids. Also, dressing up in my favorite Halloween costume and seeing everyone else dressed up is so much fun. The other events I have enjoyed are the Character Breakfast – again seeing all little boys and girls dressed up in Mickey, Minnie and princesses and also walking with crowns and props is totally amazing. The smiles on their faces make my day!

For Bingo nights, I enjoy selling the tickets and wishing people good luck for the tickets I sell. I also enjoy rolling the numbers and giving out candies to the winners. Even a pop that time makes everyone so excited! This tells me that simple things in life can do wonders to happiness and satisfaction.

Apart from serving the community and helping others, volunteering at these events gives me a chance to demonstrate my leadership and collaborative skills. It may not feel like a big deal to other girl scouts, but at each event, I experience what it is like to navigate through an unfamiliar environment independently. This is hug for me because I learn how to adapt to these new situations with Cerebral Palsy. It also gives me the courage and confidence that I can help other people out at public events despite of my disability.