ep164 Raina Applegate
Tommy: The Hearts of Gold Podcast is brought to you by the Grow and Share Network, produced by Thrille Media.
Sheryl: Welcome to Hearts of Gold. Today we have Raina with us. Hi Raina.
Raina: Hello.
Sheryl: Can you tell us about your Girl Scout Gold Award project?
Raina: Yes. My project was about how roads affect wildlife and preventing road kill. I volunteered at the regular National Wildlife Refuge.
I saw a lot of roadkill there because it run the refuge runs right next to a highway. So part of my project I made wooden signs to put up at the entrance and exit of the refuge that say slow for animals. And I also made a poster board for inside of their refuge door building that has information on different animals.
And what people can do to prevent roadkill. And I also made pamphlets that have different information on animals' behaviors, like when they're most active and when they're most likely to be seen on roads and what time of years. And I also made a Facebook page so people all around the world can also see this information, not just people in Louisiana at the Wildlife Refuge.
Sheryl: Your graphics are beautiful. How did you design them?
Raina: I drew them myself. I drew, they're just little doodles that I did and I referenced actual, pictures to see how they looked, and then I colored them. I drew them on paper, and then I took a picture of them and drew them and copied it over digitally and colored them there.
And then. Made them into stickers.
Sheryl: So you used stickers as fundraising. How did that come about?
Raina: I liked stickers and I needed something that was, i wanted something that was related to my project for fundraising and, I like to draw, and since I drew pictures for my pamphlets, I thought I could turn those pictures into the stickers.
Sheryl: Did you face any challenges with doing stickers as fundraisers? Because I believe that people ordered them and you shipped them, correct?
Raina: Yes. I didn't have any problems with that besides some people like would order stickers, but then never give me their address or pay. That was really the only problem I had.
Sheryl: What inspired your project?
Raina: Volunteering at the Red River National Wildlife Refuge and all around Shreveport. There's a lot of roadkill and, and I live in a, I lived in a neighborhood that had a lot of squirrels and those would often get hit on roads.
Sheryl: You also created a map asking people to mark where they were from when they learned about their project. Can you tell us about the map?
Raina: That was for my global patch. Or global links so I could keep track of how many people and where people saw my project. And at the end of my project, I had people from 23 states and six countries.
Sheryl: And multiple continents.
Raina: Mm-hmm.
Sheryl: Talking about worldwide, you have a future ambition that is worldwide.
Can you tell us about that?
Raina: Yes. I want a job in conservation. And preventing climate change and stuff like
that. Animal related.
Sheryl: How did you choose that as an interest for your future?
Raina: I always really liked animals. I guess I wanted a job and animals and saving animals.
Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it?
Raina: I underestimated the cost of supplies for making the wooden signs and for that it was a lot expensive, more expensive than I thought it would be. So I did another fundraiser. I had to do another fundraiser to get more money for that, which means I had to get more money to buy the stickers, and I had to sell a certain amount.
Sheryl: Who was on your team and how did they help you?
Raina: Two of the Rangers at the refuge helped me. One of them helped me get the idea for my project and what I wanted to do. And the other one helped me by getting my pamphlets and giving me little things to add. 'cause they did a project on roadkill and also the friends members of the refuge.
I talked to them and then they put my project on their Facebook page. So all the people that went to the refuge and people that were friends of the refuge could see it.
Sheryl: What's a favorite memory from your project?
Raina: Seeing all the people that, share my project. I had a whole bunch of people that would share it and I would get like a bunch of notifications about it.
Sheryl: What other Girl Scout activities have you done?
Raina: Done a lot. For my Silver Award, I made a patch for Girl Scouts and so I've gone to a bunch of, camps and done a bunch of things.
Sheryl: What was your Silver Award patch theme?
Raina: It was when I lived in Germany, it was called Running Around Ramstein, and it was so girls that lived in Germany and in the Ramstein area could learn more about German things like they, part of the requirements would be going to a castle or trying German food or going to all the historical sites that are around Ramstein so they can learn about their area.
Sheryl: You have been involved in Girl Scouts in many different locations. Can you tell us more about that?
Raina: I've been part of five or six troops over the years. And they're all very different, I've noticed. And they, some of them have different cookie locations, so there's different cookies, never the same 'cause it's different camps and there's different girls and you do entirely different things even though they're the same like patch or something.
Sheryl: What is one thing that you've learned that helped you be successful as you had to transition troops and connect with the girls in the new troop?
Raina: I kind of just got used to it. Because I would change troops every few years, and that's just how it was.
Sheryl: You mentioned Germany, which would be Girl Scouts overseas. How many of the troops were a part of Girl Scouts overseas?
Raina: I'm not sure how many troops there are total. My troop was a big troop. It had cadets through ambassadors, and I think we had some juniors too, but all the troops in that area would meet at the same place, sometimes at the same time in this one building.
Sheryl: Very cool. What other unique aspects did you have when you were in an international troop?
Raina: With our cookie money, we were able to go to places that normally wouldn't be able to, so we went to Switzerland and England with our cookie money and we went to the Girl Scout World lodges there, the RCLA in Sweden or Switzerland, and Pax lodge in London.
Sheryl: And you have plans to attend the other world centers. How do you think you're gonna fold that into the future?
Raina: I don't know. I just hope that I can go see them. Because they all look really cool. And I also wanna collect the pin from each of them and have the full set.
Sheryl: Very cool. Do you have a favorite experience from Pax Lodge or the Chalet?
Raina: At the Pax lodge, they have a Harry Potter themed patch, and you go around to different filming locations around London and we went on all the trains and to all these different places around.
Sheryl: That sounds super cool. What else would you like to share with the audience?
Raina: When putting in your proposal and getting your project approved? Make sure to check up with the council and not just wait for them to respond because they might not have gotten your proposal or whatever you sent in. So if it's been too long, check and make sure they got it.
Sheryl: Great advice. How do you make your s'mores?
Raina: I like setting the marshmallow on fire. And then just eating the marshmallow.
Sheryl: Fire marshmallows are the best. Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
Raina: Thank you.
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Tommy: Thank you for listening. If you'd like to be on the show to share your story with how you earn your Gold Award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com. Be sure to catch up on our previous shows on any of your favorite podcasting platforms, as well as view the full video versions @youtube.com/SherylMRobinson. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time.