from l.: Granby Girl Scouts Amber Tomasino and Lauren Badorek. Submitted photo
Granby Girl Scouts Lauren Badorek and Amber Tomasino from Troop 66174 have been awarded the Silver Award, the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. The idea behind this award is to help the community and to make a long lasting impact.
The girls liked the concept of helping those in need. After researching many ideas and brainstorming, they came across sewing for charity, which appealed to them the most because they both had an interest in sewing. The girls decided to sew pillowcases and to donate them to a local children’s hospital. The Girl Scouts chose the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford as the recipient of their donation. The hospital staff shared with them that the pediatric patients loved receiving the colorful pillowcases as it cheered them up during their hospital stay and personalized their space. The children also get to bring their pillowcases home.
The girls called several local stores informing the managers about their project, and received gift cards from Walmart and Target to purchase fabric. Amber and Lauren picked out colorful fabric at these stores and divided the work. They met for many joint and individual sessions to work on the pillowcases. They also tie-dyed a few, so they would have a variety of designs appealing to different age levels. The Cadettes brought the washed, ironed and individually packaged pillowcases to the medical center, and the hospital was very happy to receive the items.
To spread the word, the girls thought it would be a great idea to create a sewing tutorial and to post it on YouTube, as well as on the Girl Scouts of Connecticut Facebook page and YouTube playlist. The purpose of the video is to make the project sustainable and to teach others how to sew pillowcases for donation to a local children’s hospital.