Girl Scout Silver Helps Things Shine at The Relatives

Front Row: Marissa Schneider , Mason Schmitt, Maddie Rawson; Middle Row: Emma Martin, Carter Schmitt; Back Row: Laurie Martin, Lori Martin, Steve Shore, Phil Hartwick

The Relatives would like to thank Carter Schmitt for organizing The Relatives Basement Clean-up and Organization Day for her Girl Scout Silver Award project. The rising freshman at Myers Park High School chose The Relatives because “I know that The Relatives is a wonderful organization that helps kids, like me, stay safe. This is a way that I can contribute to these kids while learning about organization and project management”.

The need for a basement organization project was immediately clear—The Relatives had been chosen as one of the food drive beneficiaries of the Vans World Concert Tour at their Verizon Amphitheater concert in late July. The effort, entitled “ Feed Our Children Now”, ended up collecting 20 cases on non-perishable food items for The Relatives and, thanks to Carter Schmitt and her emergency makeover crew, we would be ready in time for the donated food to be delivered.  

Carter embraced the project with professionalism and enthusiasm enlisting the help of fellow girl scouts and friends Maddie Rawson, Mason Schmitt, Marissa Schneider, and Emma Martin as well as professional organizers Laurie Martin with Simplicity Organization, Lori Martin with Purple Martin Handbooks. Steve Shore and Phil Hartwick from Neiman Marcus donated time and coat hangers to the project. Three of the clients staying at The Relatives contributed their muscle power to help with the heavy lifting and cleaning. The dynamic group spent six hours cleaning out items and reorganizing shelves. Rubbermaid donated large totes to store linens, Christmas decorations, school supplies, and miscellaneous clothing items. East Bar and Grill donated lunch to all of the volunteers and clients.

After trash and debris were hauled off to the dump and the dust from the day’s events began to settle, the Neiman Marcus duo also invited coworkers to The Relatives for “Dinner With Relatives” volunteer activity where they grilled hotdogs and interacted with the clients. This was a huge undertaking that resulted in an amazing makeover for critical storage space that will allow The Relatives to take advantage of community donations that help keep kids safe and families together!!!

To learn more about volunteer opportunities for you or your group to make a difference, visit our Volunteer Page!