Open For Business!

I am happy to announce my Gold Award Project Proposal was approved by the Girl Scout Council this spring! I spent the next few months planning and preparing for a July start date, and now that the first Saturday has taken place I'm excited to share my experience!

My first big step toward preparing for July 25 (the opening day for the Reading Corner) was informing Livingston's congregation. On July 5 I nervously shared my ideas, hopes for this project, and need for donations during our Sunday service. Luckily, we have a small congregation, consisting mostly of people I've known since I was born. Livingston is my home, and though I had some stage fright, I was so lucky to be sharing with people who I knew would support me and any journey I embarked on. I was soon met with book donations, snack donations, offers to volunteer, and lots of kind words and wishes. My church family once again went above and beyond, leaving me in awe of their generosity.

Most of the preparation took place in the final week leading up to the past Saturday. I spent a morning at church, shelving the many books that had now been donated my church members, band parents, and old and new friends. The space (a corner of the church basement) required some TLC, but after moving some things around and cleaning up a little, I was able to begin sorting books. I had received over 200 books that I slowly sorted by difficulty and genre. Board books, picture books, chapter books, comic books, non-fiction, etc. I soon had everything sorted and shelved and was excited to return Saturday and finish preparing the space, then hopefully have some kids to use it.

My mom began making fliers and stickers for me to use and took me shopping for the final materials needed (because she's obviously the best mom in the world). Once Saturday rolled around I was very excited and a little nervous. I first finished decorating the space, putting up letters spelling "Reading Corner," a stick-on wall chalk board, and chalk tape to label shelves (Michael's is a magical place). Though there's more I'd like to do to renovate the space a little further, I'm pretty happy with how it looks now.

I was planning on taking this first day alone in order to get a better feel of things before enlisting volunteers, but to my surprise and delight, Patricia (a church member who also happens to be a third-grade teacher and awesome person) showed up to help me out.


We patiently waited as adults came through food pantry, hoping to see a kid or two. After the first few customers, a woman came in with her 11-year-old son. We invited him back to the Reading Corner, got him a granola bar, and let him pick out a book. He sat quietly, reading a Scooby Doo chapter book while his mom shopped. He didn't need help, but seemed to enjoy reading, and I was happy we got to provide a book and quiet place for him. When his mom was done he left with the book and a sticker with a puppy reading on it. This seems pretty uneventful but it was exciting for me to see the vision I had over a year ago finally coming to life for the first time.

A little while later, a couple came in with a little girl. Alonnah was a blonde ball of energy, and she quickly ran over and began grabbing books she wanted read to her. I got her a snack and read picture book after picture book to her. While we read she giggled, roared when a monster was pictured, and gave me kisses on the cheek. When her parents were done shopping she picked some books from the food pantry supply to take home, gave her mom her Reading Corner monster sticker, and waved goodbye.

Now that we have some fliers out at out food pantry and Charitable Pharmacy, I hope to have a few more kids in the future, but am very pleased with how the first day went. I experienced two very different readers, but was happy to provide for both. It was kind of surreal to look around at the end of the morning and realize I made it. All the Gold Award paperwork I did (and time I spent procrastinating doing paperwork, for that matter), the two times I resubmitted my proposal in hopes of being approved "this time", and the planning and preparation, was all paying off finally. At times it felt like I would never see that day, yet there I was, seeing the idea I've had since last spring actually taking place in front of me. My heart is very full.

If I've learned one thing from this experience so far it's how extremely blessed I am to have such amazing people in my life, especially a very generous and loving church family. Growing up in a small church has taught me more about love, fellowship, and family than I ever realized. I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone at Livingston who's supported me, not only in this project, but my whole life. I can't express how much you all mean to me.

I'd also like to thank my mom who's been an enormous help and my biggest fan over the last year of putting this project into motion. She helped me brainstorm ideas, kept me sane while editing my proposal for submission to the Girl Scout Council for the third time, made fliers and stickers, took me shopping for supplies, and edited everything I wrote along the way (including this blog post, thanks Mom!). She is my rock, my friend, and my inspiration. Thanks for everything, I love you lots.

A final thanks goes to anyone else who's had any part in this. From a donation to a word of encouragement, I can't say enough how thankful I am for every little thing along the way. God has blessed me with this wonderful opportunity to help children, and wonderful people without whom I couldn't have pulled it off.

Okay I feel a bit like I just wrote an Oscar acceptance speech and now it's time to get off the stage.

Hope you all have a good week.