Everyone needs a chance to get dolled up and dance.
Millstone’s Amber McGarvey and her mother, Kathie, and Millstone’s Claire Sawicz and her daughter, Stephanie, attend the Park Place semiformal in Eatontown. The McGarveys helped Stephanie assemble raffle bags and set up centerpieces for the event as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project. Millstone’s Stephanie Sawicz, 16, helped locals affected by mental illness have “A Night to Remember” by collecting donations of formal wear and helping organize other aspects of a dinner dance at Park Place in Monmouth Junction as part of her Girl Scouts Gold Award project.
When deciding on her community service project over a year ago, Stephanie remembered her father, who works in neuroscience, once telling her about patients with mental illness and the challenges they face due to stigma in society. He had talked about places like Park Place and the services they provide to help those with mental illness improve their quality of life.
“That was many years ago,” Stephanie’s mother, Claire, said. “We were surprised when she mentioned that she wanted to do something for Park Place for her Gold Award. We were thrilled when she decided to be a part of the formal night.”
Stephanie Sawicz collected over 400 hygiene products to assemble 46 raffle bags used as door prizes for the semiformal. While even most adults don’t realize the hardships that people with mental illness have to overcome, Stephanie has always had an interest in people with disabilities. She taught herself sign language at the age of 7. For her Gold Award project, she collected 260 formal garments, made 15 centerpieces, and created 100 gift bags for the Park Place function, according to Troop co-leader Kathie McGarvey, who oversaw Stephanie’s Gold Award project.
“Stephanie spent over 78 hours working on the Gold Award,” McGarvey said, noting that she also ironed, arranged by size, and distributed the clothing items for those in need prior to the dance.
Stephanie attended the dinner dance with her mother, McGarvey and McGarvey’s daughter, Amber, a fellow Scout and friend.
Millstone Girl Scout Stephanie Sawicz paints a butterfly on Millstone resident Kathie McGarvey’s face on Millstone Day, during which she raised over $230 for the Park Place semiformal for people with mental illness. “It was a very exciting evening,” Stephanie said. “It was nice to see so many people enjoying themselves. The work I put into the effort was worth seeing all of their happy faces.”
Her mother added, “The formal affair was truly a night to remember. The food was great. The people looked amazing and the smiles were abundant. The centerpieces looked beautiful and at the end, just like at a wedding, people grabbed them to bring home.”
Park Place had received very few donations for door prizes due to the economy, so the gift bags Stephanie stuffed with toiletries, hygiene products and other items helped organizer Johnny Bryant send all attendees home happy.
“Words cannot explain how proud I felt,” Claire said. “One of the gift bags was a $25 gift certificate for Shop Rite. When the older gentleman received the present, his face lit up and he smiled from ear to ear. He was so frail, like many of the patients.”
Some of the items in the bags and for the centerpieces were purchased with $230 Stephanie raised for the event with the help of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Monmouth on Millstone Day. During the community fair, Stephanie collected donations in exchange for whimsical face paintings and caricatures.
Many attendees wearing clothing or taking home items Stephanie had collected took the time to talk to and thank her throughout the evening. By the end of the night, Stephanie knew that her volunteer efforts with Park Place wouldn’t end when her Gold Award project did, and that she would help out again next year.
Stephanie has been a Girl Scout for 11 years, and began as a Daisy. Her brothers, Keith and Michael, served in the Boy Scouts and obtained Eagle rank. She enjoyed helping them with their projects and Girl Scout Troop 1558 with multiple park and roadside cleanups and other community service projects. The troop serves under the direction of leader Kim Wright, and co-leaders Sawicz, McGarvey and Patti Ferriola.
Beyond friendship, leadership skills, and a sense of self-worth, Scouting has taught Stephanie the value of helping others.
“When experienced first-hand, it’s the best feeling in the world,” she said.
The community was very supportive with donations for Park Place. She thanked Allentown High School (AHS) and St. Joseph’s Church, fellow Scout Amber Mc- Garvey and her friend Rachel Kozak. She said she has learned that “if you have something that someone else doesn’t — give because it’s the right thing to do.”
Even though Stephanie was not looking for accolades in serving Park Place, the dinner dance organizers recognized her efforts at the event.
Kathie McGarvey, who oversaw Stephanie’s project, said, “Her Gold Award work went toward making the annual semiformal dinner dance even better for the clients (participants with mental illness) and helped raise awareness of people with mental illness. One hundred eighty people attended the event.”
A member of the Academic Team, English Honor Society, Optimist Club, and Lifesavers Club at AHS, Stephanie was also nominated for the National Honor Society and serves as the Redbird Marching Band drum major this school year. She has aspirations of attending college to study speech therapy or math education.