She made a formal presentation to the Jefferson Hills Service Unit
Leaders meeting and attended Girl Scout Day at PNC Park, where a
tailgating event allowed her to set up a table with card stock, markers
and pencils for the girls and their families to make cards that day.
The response was fantastic and there were 41 cards to get the ball
rolling on her project. Through these and other efforts, Ashley met 65
percent of her goal before the end of September.
The first cards were provided to MOW in August with an
overwhelming heartfelt response. “The clients love getting the cards,”
says Mason. “They tell our volunteers to please tell the kids thank you.
The volunteers have also reported seeing the cards hanging on clients’
refrigerators, too.”
Ashley projects that she will need 851 cards to meet her goal of one
card per month for all of South Park MOW clients and feels confident
she will meet it because of all of the help she’s getting from her fellow
Girl Scouts and community leaders.
Members of
Girl Scout
Troop
54219 and
volunteers
began
their work
on Project
SMiLES with
a first-round
of cards
in August.
“We’ve already delivered cards for National Watermelon Day in
August, Teddy Bear Day in September and Halloween in October.
And I know they have Thanksgiving and Christmas in hand,” says
Mason. “Such a simple gift has really made our clients so happy.”
Ashley believes Project SmiLES will continue even after the
year-long project comes to a close. “Giving the simple gift of
happiness, and the act of caring should go beyond this project,”
she says. “Not just in our troop but our community as a whole.
That’s when I’ll know I have reached my goal—when I’ll know we
have made a difference in this world.”
“I decided to help Meals on Wheels
because there were so many lonely people
who have never received anything special.
I wanted to make them happy
because many of them do not have
family or friends locally like others do.”
For more information about Project SmiLES, visit
facebook.com/groups/MEALSONWHEELSSMILES.
To learn how you can donate to South Park Meals on Wheels,
go to southparkmealsonwheels.com. n
West Jefferson Hills | Winter 2016 | icmags.com 13