Girl Scouts Gold Award and Salvation Army Shelter Strike It Rich!

HARTFORD – When Elisa Mucci and her high school friends visited The Salvation Army’s Marshall House Family Shelter in Hartford at Christmastime last year, they were amazed at how much fun the children and their families had decorating cookies and making holiday crafts together. Elisa was quick to recognize a "golden opportunity" when she saw one! She had been in search of a "special" project to meet the Girl Scout Gold Award guidelines and came up with the following for an idea: How about a mural – a mural about pets – at the Family Shelter?

Regarding why, Elisa explained, "When I was on a mission trip to D.C. last summer, I met a homeless woman named Tammy. She spoke about how hard it is not to have a pet, now that she has no home. I knew that pets can reduce the stress and sad feelings that people often suffer, so I wanted to bring the joy of animals to the families that live in the Marshall House Family Shelter.

The residents of Marshall House can’t have pets because they are homeless and also lots of the residents can’t be around animals for medical reasons. I wanted to create a mural in the library at the Marshall House with lots of animals painted in it. The wall also has a space for displaying artwork or stories that the residents create. They can show or talk about their favorite animals or 'best friends.' In the toddler playroom, I wanted to paint one wall with a special type of paint that turned the wall into a chalk board, so the toddlers have their own space to draw animals. We also had a wall mural painting class one week in July, where my friends and some of the residents then created the wall mural and chalk board wall.

In addition to spreading the joy of animals, my high school friends got to talk to and meet people from the Hartford area working to establish a home for themselves. I think that my friends had fun and got an experience similar to my D.C. mission trip experience."

The Girl Scout Gold Award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Open only to girls in high school, this prestigious award challenges young girls to change the world - or at least their corner of it. By the time they put the final touches on their seven-step project, they will have solved a community problem - not only in the short term, but for years into the future.

The seven steps to complete the project include: First - Identify an issue; Second - Investigate it thoroughly; Third - Get help and build your team; Fourth - Create a plan; Fifth - Present your plan and gather feedback; Sixth - Take action; and Seven - Educate and inspire.

Elisa’s Marshall House Animal Mural certainly met the requirements of the award and the families in the shelter will get to feel a little warmth and happiness too for years to come. A little gold for everyone!