Mahwah teen’s project earns Girl Scouts’ top award
Program helps seniors cope with isolation
Ishika Ranka came up with an idea that would help her earn the Girl Scouts’ highest honor: The Gold Award.
The Mahwah resident, a sophomore at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack who serves in Girl Scout Troop 95829, created “Resident Radiance,” to help nursing home residents deal with the isolation and loneliness they experience.
Ranka was acknowledged by her troop last month and will be honored with other Gold Award earners nationwide by the Girl Scouts of the United States of America in June.
“The idea of starting a Gold Award [project] originated in the pandemic. Then, I was brought to light about different experiences faced by senior home residents and nursing home residents,” Ranka said. “Through a lot of research, I was finding out how both of them experience things differently and senior home residents have a lot more options for entertainment and enjoyment versus people who are in nursing homes and having to stay there all day, every day.”
Helping those in their golden years
After some research, she tried gaining the interest of various North Jersey nursing homes in her project but was unsuccessful. Then, she found her project welcomed at the Willows at Ramapo Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Suffern, New York, a few miles north of Mahwah.
Ranka began last September with her project by creating an activities cart with stuffed animals, books and games placed in a common area at the Willows and preparing self-care packages with essential items like hand sanitizers and soap for residents. But it was the stuffed animals that were most popular with the residents.
“I was really surprised to learn that a lot of these residents, since nobody visited them, especially from their family for years throughout the pandemic, it was something that they cherished,” Ranka said.
She also arranged piano recitals by students from the Holy Cross Early Learning Center in Mahwah and arranged volunteering by different Girl Scout Troops in North Jersey.
The project will not end anytime soon as Ranka is now discussing with her project advisers, Nicole Preston, who works at the Willows, and Dominique Chiaradio of Holy Cross, to create events to entertain the nursing home residents.
“I also think about when I was bringing the self-care packages and the activities cart. Some of the nursing home residents couldn’t speak,” Ranka said. “But I could see as I was bringing them in ... they were really happy and smiling. As I was bringing in the cart, people were following in their wheelchairs to get a look. It was heartwarming.”
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com Twitter: @ricardokaul