Westlake Girl Scout Says ‘Thank You’ to Healthcare Workers

Penny Evans, Volunteer Coordinator, UH St. John Medical Center, with Avery Junkins and her Positivity Postbox now stationed in the main entrance lobby at the hospital.

For over two years, healthcare workers have been challenged to give their best during the Covid pandemic.

Long hours, high patient loads and personal time taken from their families – it has been a long haul.

How do we say ‘thank you?’ A local student has come up with a new and fantastic idea!

Avery Junkins is a Westlake High School Junior and Girl Scout in Troop 70255. She has witnessed her own mother, a nurse, struggle with stress from work and feeling overwhelmed by the pandemic.

Avery is currently working on earning her Gold Award, the highest award you can earn in Girl Scouts. Avery wanted to make a difference in the community and create a sustainable way to get messages to both patients and caregivers. So she developed a solution. She calls it, “The Positivity Postbox.”

Avery and Mary Beth Thoburn, Chief Nursing Executive at Fairview Hospital with the Positivity Postbox stationed in the lobby for all to use.

The Positivity Postbox is, quite simply, a clear acrylic post box that serves as a collection box for people in the community to submit anything of inspiration, thanks or encouragement for both caregivers and patients.

Boxes have already been placed in the lobbies of University Hospital St. John Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital.

The contents are later distributed to those who need them, from healthcare workers to patients.

Examples include handwritten get-well wishes, notes of appreciation, encouraging letters, small crafts, inspiring quotes, painted rocks, or other tokens of appreciation. Small bottles of hand lotion or hand sanitizer are acceptable as well!

The goal of this project is to bring hope and positivity to others by connecting the community with the hospital.

Avery says, “I think my Gold Award project, the Positivity Postbox, could really make a big impact on our community and for people both working and receiving treatment at the hospital. This project gives the community the chance to help others, share kindness, and improve the world!”

Avery has been in Girl Scouts since Kindergarten and has earned both the Bronze and Silver Awards throughout her participation in scouting.

Her Gold Award project has been in development over the last year and a half. It has taken time, planning, lots of communication, effort, meetings and approval from local hospitals and leaders as well as the approval of the Girl Scouts Northeast Ohio board. Avery estimates that she has now spent over 200 hours planning and executing the Positivity Postbox, and has spent over $750 to bring the project to life.

She has contacted local Girl and Boy Scout troops and leaders, and over 120 local churches, nursing homes, preschools, elementary schools, high schools, assisted living homes, and group organizations to see if they would like to participate. Many have chosen to contribute monthly.

“This project is not a one-time effort,” says Avery. Avery wants the boxes to serve as a new and on-going process that people can contribute to even after the pandemic. She has asked local participants to consider donating monthly or annually.

To encourage participation, Avery has designed a unique patch Girl Scouts (and even Boy Scouts!) can earn if they participate. She is putting together “kits” with a description explaining the project, suggested participation requirements to earn a patch. These kits will be given to Girl Scout leaders whose troops wish to participate. When the scout finishes, the leader can award the patch themselves based on the honor system. Avery has also been going to local scout meetings in person to direct scouts in letter writing and to explain the project.

All can contribute and make a difference. Avery encourages people to be creative. Ideas include considering making your own stamps and stamp your own cards or stationary, make your own handmade paper, hand write a thoughtful letter, create and write a clever poem, draw or sketch a picture, paint small rocks with inspiring quotes/words/prayers, make friendship/prayer bracelets, or small seasonal crafts.

Scouts can often incorporate other badge requirements into the project. If you don’t have the time to hand make something, it is perfectly fine to purchase some stationary and write a note yourself. The possibilities are endless!

Whatever you decide to do, Avery wants you to do it with love and sincerity. Everyone can tell a story about how COVID has impacted them personally, or how someone they know has suffered with a loss or known a caregiver struggling. You have the opportunity to make a difference.

To participate, simply make a submission, designate it for staff/caregivers or a patient, and deliver it to the Positivity Postbox at either the Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital or St. John locations. Hospital staff and volunteers within the medical facilities will be emptying and distributing the submissions to caregivers or patients as designated as they are received.

And yes, of course, Avery is selling Girl Scout cookies to support her troop and project! Avery is considering studying to be a healthcare professional after completing high school next year.