2020 CitrusPeel Gold Edition

KELLY ZAREMBSKI
Mary’s Angels
As Kelly reflects on her Girl Scout Gold Award,
she realizes she gained much more than
leadership and project management skills. “With
a change of perspective, anything is possible
regardless of how hopeless a situation may
appear. That there is always something positive
which can be reaped from the negative, and
that it is never too late to make a difference.”
After losing her grandmother to Alzheimer’s
disease, Kelly felt helpless. She wanted to help
but did not know what to do in the face of this
terrible illness. When it came time to consider
her Gold Award project, Kelly decided to
dedicate it to the loving memory of her Grammy
by increasing awareness of Alzheimer’s and
Dementia in youth populations while supporting
people in her community who were coping with
the illness.
Mary’s Memory Boxes are sensory boxes, each
created with a specific theme or topic designed
to engage the senses and inspire a memory.
Working with Sutton Homes, an Alzheimer’s and
Dementia care and assisted living facility, Kelly
obtained a list of residents’ prior occupations,
hobbies and passions. Using this information
to develop a theme for each memory box,
Kelly reached out to several high school clubs
to recruit volunteers who would decorate and
assemble the boxes. This worked well, as she
was able to match the theme of the boxes
to specific club interests so students could
advocate for something they loved while also
supporting members of the community.
In addition to raising funds to purchase boxes
and supplies, Kelly designed a “Mary’s Memory
Box” sticker for each box. Once the boxes were
complete, they were given to Sutton Homes
which continues to rotate the boxes between
homes, using them to spark memories in
Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients.
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