Alyssa shows Girl Scouting spirit

By Joan Hadac

Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge

(708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com

You may not know her name, but I’ll bet you’ve seen the face of Alyssa Delaurentis around the neighborhood.

Alyssa Delaurentis is ready to serve our neighborhood’s senior citizens. –Photo by Cosmo Hadac

For a good 10 years, Alyssa has been a good Girl Scout: selling cookies, singing in a church choir and volunteering her time at any number of charitable events like the South Side Diabetes Tournament and Geno Randazzo’s Back to School Festival and Bookbag Giveaway.

In 2022, Alyssa is 17 years old, a junior at St. Laurence High School establishing a record of success. She is an O’Toole honors student and a member of the National Honor Society. She has volunteered as a school ambassador, showing St. Laurence to grade school students at open house events.

She has stuck with the Girl Scouts since she was a first grader at St. Dan’s, earning merit awards and rising through the ranks. Today she has the rank of Ambassador, the highest in Girl Scouting.

Recently, she announced she is launching a service project to honor and assist senior citizens. Assuming the project is successful, she’ll earn her Gold Award in Girl Scouting.

Alyssa and others she has recruited will rake leaves for the elderly, mow lawns or help with anything they may need outside their home.

At first glance, it may seem like a small thing; but to a senior citizen or anyone else with mobility limitations, it’s a big deal. Among other things, it helps seniors “age in place,” as gerontologists say. It helps them remain at home, where they want to be, as opposed to being forced to move into a nursing home.

Alyssa and crew plan to do the work on the first and third weekends in November.

So if you’re elderly and want some help with yard work, please call or text Alyssa at (773) 577-3184 or email her at delaurentis16@icloud.com to get on her to-do list.

Similarly, if you are someone who wants to join Alyssa’s crew and get busy with a rake or a broom—especially if you are a student in need of community service hours—call, text or email her.

Joan Hadac

Mark your calendar

• If you need to recycle unwanted electronics, head over to Kennedy High School’s west parking lot, just steps south of 56^th and Narragansett, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. This useful public service is brought to us by 13^th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn and State Rep. Angelica “Angie” Guerrero-Cuellar (D-22^nd).
• A “trick or trunk” event is set for 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 in the parking lot of Kinzie School, 5625 S. Mobile. Adults (18 and older) are invited to decorate their vehicle’s trunks and bring plenty of store-bought candy (nothing homemade) to distribute to children trick-or-treating in the lot. Children in the comment are invited to come in costume. For details, call the park at (312) 747-6993
• An Oktoberfest-themed bingo is set for Sunday, Oct. 30 in the I Hall at St. Sym’s, 6148 S. Mason. Doors open at 12:30 p.m., and games begin at 1:30. Admission is $20 at the door. There will be pulltabs, split-the-pot raffles and more. My thanks to Lara Hess for letting me know about this event. Sounds like fun!
• Tickets are now on sale for the “Grateful, Thankful, Blessed” dinner-dance set to benefit St. Symphorosa School.

The event is set for Saturday, Nov. 5 in Flannery Hall on the St. Rene Goupil campus of Two Holy Martyrs Parish, 6340 S. New England.

Your ticket purchase ($50 per person) includes a buffet dinner, soft drinks, beer and wine. As I understand it, this is an adults-only (21 and up) affair.

There will be music, a silent auction including original student artwork, a split-the-pot drawing, raffle baskets and more. For more information, contact Melanie at schoolboard@stsymsschool.org

• A chair exercise class at Valley Forge Park, 7001 W. 59^th St., still has a few openings left, according to the Park District website. There is no admission charge, and class meets 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Dec. 6. So if you are age 60 and up and want to join, please call the park at (773) 229-0812.

That’s all for now. Remember, you can purchase 24/7 online access to the Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound for as little as 4 cents a day. Visit southwestregionalpublishing.com for details.

Have a great week.