Hello everyone, my name is Evelyn and I am a senior in High School. I have been a Girl Scout for eleven years and about a year
ago, in late 2013, I began work on my Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. I have
created this website because for my Gold Award Project I have
decided to do something to benefit the Alzheimer’s community: patients, families, friends, and
caregivers.
This all started about four years ago when I began work on my Silver Award. I was told to find a issue that was meaningful to me and that I wanted to do something about. I, being only 13 at the time, was stumped. My mom gave me the book Still Alice by Lisa Genova, which I absolutely recommend, especially to anyone who deals with those affected by Alzheimer’s. I also found a pamphlet that Creative Memories, the company my Mom had been working with for years, had published many years ago about creating Memory Albums for Alzheimer’s patients. With the help of my mom I began to figure out how I could use my love of photos and memories to solve a problem.
For my Silver Award I worked with a woman by the name of Karen to put together a memory book for her father who had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I interviewed her about her father’s life and helped her to pull together photos and information. I then compiled it all into a digital photo album which she was able to give to her father and which also served as a precious keepsake for her family.
After seeing and hearing about the impact that my book had on Karen and her family, when it came time to start my Gold Award I already knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to continue the project that I had started, the challenge was finding a way to broaden the impact. I started to think of ways that I could help many people to create these books which I had come to call “Identity Books.” This was the process that brought me here to you.
This all started about four years ago when I began work on my Silver Award. I was told to find a issue that was meaningful to me and that I wanted to do something about. I, being only 13 at the time, was stumped. My mom gave me the book Still Alice by Lisa Genova, which I absolutely recommend, especially to anyone who deals with those affected by Alzheimer’s. I also found a pamphlet that Creative Memories, the company my Mom had been working with for years, had published many years ago about creating Memory Albums for Alzheimer’s patients. With the help of my mom I began to figure out how I could use my love of photos and memories to solve a problem.
For my Silver Award I worked with a woman by the name of Karen to put together a memory book for her father who had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I interviewed her about her father’s life and helped her to pull together photos and information. I then compiled it all into a digital photo album which she was able to give to her father and which also served as a precious keepsake for her family.
After seeing and hearing about the impact that my book had on Karen and her family, when it came time to start my Gold Award I already knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to continue the project that I had started, the challenge was finding a way to broaden the impact. I started to think of ways that I could help many people to create these books which I had come to call “Identity Books.” This was the process that brought me here to you.