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Local girl gives back
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Neighbors | Natalie Scott.Jessica Shobel-Christmas is shown sitting on one of the tables she built for Boardman Park as part of her Gold Award project.
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Neighbors | Natalie Scott.Jessica Shobel-Christmas donated child-sized picnic tables to Boardman Park as part of her Gold Award project for the Girl Scouts. Shown is a plaque on one of Shobel-Christmas' tables.
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Neighbors | Natalie Scott.Thomas Christmas is shown playing behind one of the child-sized picnic tables at the children's area near Masters Pavillion at Boardman Park May 4.
Girl Scout Jessica Shobel-Christmas designed and manufactured two child sized picnic tables to donate to Boardman Park as part of her Gold Award service project. The project was titled “Tables for Tots.”
The Gold Award is the highest award that a girl scout can earn throughout her career with the group. It requires 80 hours of community service completed entirely by the candidate.
“I knew that I wanted to do something with the park,” said Shobel-Christmas. “I decided that the small children’s area near Masters Pavillion needed picnic tables for the children so I decided to make some. Fundraising and buying supplies took the most time.”
To raise money for the project, Shobel-Christmas hosted a garage sale, a small clothing drive and a bake sale. She designed the smaller tables based on the design of full sized picnic tables and had help from some of her teachers at the Mahoning County Career and Technical School, as well as her mother and brother.
“I really enjoyed doing this project,” said Shobel-Christmas. “My favorite part was being independent. It teaches you community skills and leadership skills. It felt like stepping into the real world.”
Shobel-Christmas has been involved with Girls Scouts for 14 years. She is a member of Troup 80977, under the direction of Troup Leader Caroline Allen.