What inspires you?

What inspires me is being able to work with animals and giving them the ability to play in an off-leash controlled environment.

Tell us about an issue that matters to you and how you became aware and involved.

The first part of my Silver Award Project was the Clean Up at the Cornwall Dog Park. In order for Ashley G, my partner, and I to get volunteers to help us, we went to the Key Club and the National Honors Society at our local High School. Ashley and I went to the high school to give a presentation to the students of the clubs asking them to volunteer on our Clean-Up Day. To prepare for the presentation I created a power point that included all the Clean Up information, history of the Cornwall Bark Park and how a dog park is beneficial in a community. The day of the Clean Up we ended up with forty volunteers! Once everyone arrived at the park to start working, it started to rain. I was worried some of our volunteers would leave due to the rain, but they all stayed to help. An obstacle we ran into was that we ran out of equipment (rakes, gloves, bags, etc.) for everyone, as we had twice as many volunteers as we expected. Ashley and I solved the problem by putting people in groups to help with the low supply of equipment. As our volunteers got to work the rain lightened up and the sun came out. The previous rain had caused lots of leaves to get knocked down leaving us with a lot to clean up. Ashley’s mother headed out to buy more leaf bags, as we filled up the first ten bags rather quickly. While everyone waited for Ashley’s mother to get back with the bags we provided our volunteers with cookies/cupcakes that we baked the night before and water. Soon after Ashley’s mother came back with the leaf bags, everyone went back to work. We filled up fourteen bags of leaves and one bag of dog poop! In the end, I was so grateful so many club members came to help clean up the park. This part of my project helped me realize that you cannot get frustrated or nervous when something does not go right, and that there a solution to every problem. I hope that all the dog owners watching us clean up the park remember what a good thing we did and that the next time they walk past a piece of trash that they remember us working to keep our park clean and throw the trash away, and, most importantly, to pick up after their dogs!

Share your perspectives on what makes a good leader.

A good leader needs leadership, patience, cooperation and speaking skills.

Do you think TakingITGlobal can help you achieve some of your goals? Have we already? Please tell us how.

Yes, my goal as a Senior Girl Scout is to get my story global so people get inspired to do good things in their community.