Leadership is something Alexandria Ippolito doesn’t have a hard time expressing, especially through her deeds.
The 16-year-old Elmwood Park resident and member of Girl Scout Troop 21822 in Chicago recently received the Girl Scout Gold Award, the organization’s highest honor, equivalent to becoming an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts.
Her Girl Scout troop leader, Bernadette Colletti, said Ippolito is something special and has always encouraged the girls in her troop to go for the Gold Award. She said the impact of the award is far-reaching.
“The girls do a service project that is lasting and stays on beyond them,” she said. “It’s not just a one-time service project.”
Ippolito’s service project, which led to her award, involved initiating a project called “Helping Out People Everywhere” (H.O.P.E.). The project helped teens and young mothers who live in poverty and depend on shelters by providing them with bags filled with supplies as well as handmade scarves.
She chose this service project because women and teenage girls who are homeless have little to call their own and she wanted to help fill that void. So she asked friends, family and members of her troop to donate personal hygiene items that she could pass them on to the women in the shelter.
“I got them them soaps, shampoo and conditioner, lotion toothbrushes and body wash,” she said. “Everything I got was a donation.”
She would package the items into individual bags, which the women’s shelter would provide to the homeless women. She never met the women personally, but believes it did help.
“I just know a lot of them were struggling,” she said. “A lot of them go to women’s shelter’s for help and a lot of them are 16, 17, 18 years old. If I was in that position I would want someone to help me.”
Although her service project is complete she still wants to help out as much as she can.
“We’re still making scarves and are donating them on Dec. 27,” she said. “I want to keep being involved in the women’s shelter.”
Her mother, Renee Ippolito, is very proud of her daughter’s accomplishment and knows there’s more to come.
“She has very good leadership skills,” she said. “She likes being out front, being the leader.”
Along with being a Girl Scout, Alexandria Ippolito is a member of National Honor Society, her school’s Key Club and vice president of the school’s student council and student ambassadors. She’s also on the school’s cross country and track and field teams.
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Ippolito became involved in the Girl Scouts in fourth grade and she hasn’t looked back. She believes that she will always be involved in the Girl Scouts and hopefully lead a troop of her own one day.
Still, with her busy schedule she still thinks about service.
“I really want to do something for St. Jude’s Children Hospital,” she said. “Families go there when their children are really sick and can’t pay for it. I want to help him in any way, shape or form.”
Colletti, her troop leader said you don’t see young people doing things like this much.
“You don’t see that kind of commitment anymore,” Colletti said. “She’s one of those girls that’s a go-getter. She’s just a hard working kid, a neat kid. She just gives back to the community.”
Ippolito said college is definitely in her future, but is still undecided in what career path she might take and is debating between becoming a doctor or a businesswoman for the time being. Until then, she’ll still be doing what Girl Scouts do and probably more.
“I still sell cookies like any other Girl Scout,” she said. “I really liked the service projects, so I just kept doing them.”