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Award-Winning Effort
ON THE INSIDE The lastest happenings in our area Page 2
January 30, 2015
by Christopher Cornell ADVANTAGE EDITOR
The Girl Scout Gold Award, the Girl Scouts’ highest honor, challenges scouts in grades nine through 12 to change the world, no matter how big or small their impact might be. One young lady from our area took up the challenge and succeeded. The Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania (GSHPA) recently presented Maura O’Neill, from Troop 50520 in Scott Township, with the award. The Lakeland High School graduate and current Marywood University student’s Gold Award project was titled “Murals at Griffin Pond Animal Shelter.” “I got the idea to paint murals at Griffin Pond when I saw that the walls in two of the rooms there looked a bit bland and shabby,” she recalled. Her hope was that colorful murals could brighten up these rooms and attract more visitors. O’Neill tried a number of designs, but settled on a cartoonish depiction of multiple dog breeds playing outside for the dog room and a collection of cats playing with yarn, birds and mice for the cat room. “The simple, cartoonish designs of the murals made the figures in them both easier to paint and more expressive,” she said. O’Neill had to write a proposal and get it approved by the Gold Award Committee. It was rejected several times, and each time O’Neill added more elements, including an idea to teach youngsters how to make beds and toys for the animals. “The girls in the troops I visited worked hard sewing toy mice for the cats and braiding felt ropes for the dogs,” she said. She also created adoption kits, which would be given out to anyone who adopts an animal at the shelter. These kits were filled with many of the items that a new pet owner might need, including treats, toys, bowls, leashes and collars. All of these items were held in a soft, flannel bag that, when turned inside out, could be used as a bed. O’Neill added that many of the youngsters she worked with had never been to or even heard of the shelter. “Knowing that I was able to educate them about the shelter, as well as how to donate, volun-
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O’Neill set up a table during Griffin Pond’s Pet Walk at McDade Park and invited the public to help fill the bags with everything the adoption kits needed.
teer and adopt, was incredibly satisfying.” She remembered placing one of the beds into a cat’s cage, and it immediately jumped onto the soft bed and began purring. “Seeing how much the animals at the shelter needed and enjoyed my donations definitely made my project feel worthwhile.” She said the biggest challenge was finding funds for supplies. After being turned down by several businesses, Sherwin-Williams and Justus Hardware helped out, and many of O’Neill’s family members made both monetary and material donations. “There are so many people who I would like to thank for helping me with this project,” she said. “My mom, Mary, who is also my Girl Scout leader, provided me with so much support and so many great ideas for the beds, toys and adoption kits. My dad, Kevin, helped me with every aspect of the murals; he used his artistic talents to help me measure the rooms, come up with ideas, transfer my sketches from paper onto the walls, and paint the murals. My art teacher, Jennifer Piconi, and art club members Carissa Neary and Jen Nawrocki spent weeks helping me paint. I’d like to thank Beverly Bright, who originally approved
the murals, and Jess Farrell, who helped me to set up a table at the Pet Walk. I’d also like to thank the Jermyn, South Scranton, and Carbondale Girl Scout troops and their leaders, Robyn Smith, Mimi Palmere and Debbie Fay, respectively, for allowing me to come to their meetings. Members of my own Girl Scout troop. Sharon Snyder and Nicole Robinson, also helped make toys and beds, as did my Girl Scout leader Linda Snyder. Without all of these people, as well as so many more friends and family members, I never would have been able to earn my Gold Award, and I cannot thank all of them enough. “It is my hope that this project not only improved the lives of the animals at Griffin Pond, but that it also allowed the community to become educated about the shelter and inspired to volunteer,” said O’Neill. Visit the shelter’s website, griffinpondanimalshelter.com for more information. O’Neill and other Gold Award recipients from across central and northeastern Pennsylvania will be honored at a luncheon this summer. For more information about Girl Scouts or to sign up online, visit gshpa.org or call (800) 6927816.