Beginnings

An overwhelming mass of people live without the slightest consideration of the effects their life will leave, or without allowing those thoughts to change their actions. I am fifteen years old, and can't say I've done anything that has been world-shattering or mind-blowing. Some may say that kind of existence is normal. Settling for normality has never been like me, though, and that's one thing that is not going to change.
These are the kinds of thoughts and ponderings that have lead me to begin Caring Caps, my Girl Scout Gold Award Project. Caring Caps is an acronym for Citizens Answer Real Issues Giving Care And Personal Security. I have designed this project to address homelessness and poverty in my community, as well as to educate the public about these issues. Through Caring Caps, people are to knit and crochet items for donation to Operation Happiness, a winter holiday service program. People in need will be appreciative of store-bought gifts, which may be necessary to their survival; they will be shocked and captivated by the gesture of handmade gifts filled with time, love, and compassion. Winter holidays can be especially tough for those who are impoverished or homeless. While the season can be filled with giving, it can also be an inundation of commercialism, and being forgotten, as those who have helped them return to their families, consumed by the hustle and bustle of holiday traditions - and the chaotic, whirlwind that is life. Thus, such a seemingly insignificant action, like giving a handmade item, can instill in someone that there are people who care about them, and are working to make their lives better. For these reasons, I am teaching knitting and crocheting classes at the Clark County library in Winchester, Kentucky. It is my hope that participants in the classes and in the overall project will explore the art of  knitting and crocheting to share with others.  More importantly, I hope that with information about the plight of the homeless and impoverished around us, that each person will have a mindset of resurgent change, aid, and action. This is project that is just taking flight -it's in its baby stage, if you will. In order for it to be successful, it needs people. So get involved, and tell everyone you know about it! If you do, the extension of its benefits could be endless.
I may not change the world in such a world-renowned fashion that my name echoes the history books - or blog pages - for eons to come, but if I can change the life of just one person for the better, then I cannot find a reason to be unsatisfied; if every person looks deep enough within themselves, I believe they will find the same thing to be true, too.