Young People Turn Creative Ideas into Support for Common Ground ...

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Home / News / Young People Turn Creative Ideas into Support for Common Ground Samantha Tousignant was inspired to work on her Girl Scout Silver Award by a fellow Girl Scout who donated school supplies and stuffed animals to Common Ground as part of earning her Girl Scout Gold Award.? The Baker Middle School student, who starts 7th grade in the fall, is about halfway toward getting her Silver Award. Samantha decided to donate games and crafts to The Sanctuary, Common Ground's three-week voluntary residential counseling program for youths ages 10-17 because she like board games and thought the kids at The Sanctuary might like them also.? "I just think of it like a big family and in my family we like to play board games so I thought the kids here would too." To earn the Girl Scout Silve Award Samantha has to complete 50 hours of community service and fill out a journal describing her plan to achieve her objective.? "I passed out flyers and did a game drive in my neighborhood to collect used games to donate," she said.? "There are a lot of kids in my neighborhood, so they felt like they needed the help." Samantha also has to do a presentation to some younger students, introducing them to Common Ground and its programs.? Samantha's mom, who is also her Girl Scout Troop Leader, has guided her through the process but says her daughter has done all the work.? "I went shopping with her and just helped make sure she didn't over spend, but she picked out the games.? I'm really proud of her," she added. ? Jessica Pyke, a 2009 graduate of Oxford High School, was impacted by the number of teenagers in her community who have committed suicide in the last year and wanted to do something about it.? So she and a friend organized a 5k walk/run in memory of several friends, all Oakland county residents, who lost their lives to suicide.? The event was held July 28 and raised almost $2,000, which was donated to Common Ground in support of its suicide prevention programs. ? The event attracted more than 110 participants, which surprised Jessica.? "I think it means a lot to people to have places to go where people have experienced the same problem.? Sometimes people don't ?feel like they can talk to their family and friends.? Knowing there are places (like Common Ground) where they can go and people they can talk to is really important." Jessica stopped by Common Ground's administrative offices recently to present CEO Tony Rothschild with a check for $1,617 and pledges are still coming in! Common Ground ?thanks these two young women for their compassion and commitment to improving their communities.

Source: http://commongroundhelps.org/?p=3493

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