As a senior at Norcross High School Emma Fass made an observation of her peers.
“I interact with a lot of people at school, and I noticed many of them aren’t as involved in the community as they could be,” she said.
So Fass created an event at the Norcross Library designed to introduce teens to various ways they can support community organizations. She began by researching on the kinds of civic engagement projects young people could take part in, then she enlisted the help of her local library, where she volunteers as a member of the teen advisory board.
“The library is a great resource where teens can go and get involved in various activities,” she said. “It’s also a very community-focused place, and I knew they could help me plan a fair.”
Fass advertised the event at the library, at school and at local Girl Scout troops. In August, the afternoon of activities drew about 30 participants, including several tweens. They wrote letters with encouraging messages to firefighters and other community workers, penned thank-you notes to teachers and mentors, painted positive messages on rocks and distributed them around the city, and made dog toys out of recycled materials for local animal shelters.
“We set up stations to show how community involvement doesn’t have to be something big,” said Fass. “We also gave them resources about things they could do in the community.”
As a Girl Scout herself since kindergarten, Fass used the community service fair as a part of her Gold Award project that requires Scouts to look at a local issue and develop a program around it. To earn that top recognition, she submitted a final report on the event and is waiting on its approval.
“It’s the highest award you can get as a Girl Scout,” she said. “But I also am glad I could do it to encourage teens to be more active in the community.”
Who’s doing good? Each week, we write about a deserving individual, charity events such as fun-runs, volunteer projects and other community gatherings that benefit a good cause. To suggest an event or person for us to cover, contact us at ajc.doinggood@gmail.com.
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