Before Theresa Daugherty came along, women on bed rest at Piedmont Fayette Hospital and Riverdale Medical Center did not even have access to simple items such as socks, mirrors, and combs. Then, Daugherty changed everything.
Now thanks to Daugherty when women checking in at the hospitals, receive a bag filled with necessary supplies to stay clean and nice looking.
“They were filled with things like wipes to keep their face clean because some couldn’t even get up to shower,” Daugherty said. The bags were filled with – “things people wouldn’t think to give their friends or family.”
She didn’t stop there. Not only did she bring crossword puzzles and magazines to keep the resting women entertained, she also brought toys such as matchbox cars and coloring books for children visiting their moms.
“Kids have always been really close to me [and] close to my heart.”
After delivering the bags and toys, Daugherty turned her attention to Fayette Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
With a younger scout troop, she made blankets to rest over the incubators. Then, she put the babies names on their incubators, as well as stockings for Christmas.
Even after all that work, Daugherty still found time to create goodie bags containing two bath toys for moms to receive on Mother’s Day.
“It was probably the best feeling in my entire life,” Daugherty said after personally delivering bags to the women on bed rest.
She went above the call of duty for a Girl Scout Gold project; but she explained that it wasn’t hard to achieve her goal.
“Getting started was the hardest part [because] of all the paper work,” she said.. “But I was so passionate about it that I kept going.”
When asked what advice she would tell other Girl Scouts about a project, she responded, “Do something that you’re definitely passionate about because it gets hard with all the work and details you have to do.”
Daugherty impacted so many families with her project, which is the real point of the Gold Award. It’s designed to, not only impact the girl because of all the hard work, but benefit the community as well.
Even though she will move on from Girl Scouts, her project won’t. The Piedmont Fayette Hospital and Riverdale Medical center will continue to make bags to comfort moms on bed rest. In addition, the hospital in Newnan will use Theresa’s idea when their maternity wing is ready for it.
That is the definition of an effective project.
