For months, Faith Trejo shoved piles of sports equipment up against one wall in her bedroom.
She sorted it and cleaned it, eventually transporting it to Sells, Arizona in the back of her dad’s pickup truck.
The 16-year-old collected about $8,000 worth of sports equipment for kids in Sells to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award. This is the organization’s highest award and requires high school girls to find a problem, figure out how to solve it and then follow up with an extensive paper.
Faith received her Gold Award this April, along with recognition for the accomplishment from NASA, the White House, the governor and others, says her mother Carol Trejo.
“It took me a while to think of (the idea), but once I had the idea, I was like, ‘Yes. This is what I want to do,’ ” Faith says. “I love to do sports and teach people about health and how to play. There was a lot I really liked about it, and nothing else could really top this.”
Faith, now a junior at Canyon del Oro High School, traveled to Sells the summer after her freshman year with her church youth group to distribute the equipment and teach kids how to play softball and baseball.
The equipment she gave to the Sells community center was enough to form five teams and create a softball league for girls ages 6 to 12.
“Her father and I just feel like we’re proud of the fact that she has compassion for others, and she continues to inspire us by giving back,” Carol says, adding that earning a Gold Award is no easy task.
To collect the baseball and softball gear, Faith worked with the Oro Valley community for more than a year, reaching out to club teams, the Canyon Del Oro Little League and Oro Valley Fast Pitch Softball for old equipment. Faith was a softball player herself until high school.
Most of the gear was gently used. Some items were brand new. Faith, who donated some of her own stuff, inspected the quality of each donation.
In Sells, she started the kids off with a game of Wiffle ball, teaching them to swing bats and throw balls.
“They were lined up against the fence ready to go, like, ‘Let’s play!’” Faith says. “They loved it.”
One boy showed up barefoot. He had lost his shoes several days prior.
“Luckily we had cleats that fit him,” Faith says. “He played in those all day.”
Although Faith still doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do in the future, an interest in health and promoting active living has been a developing theme in her life. As a student at CDO, she has lettered in golf and track and has competed in basketball and swim.
Among other school activities, Faith is part of a national club promoting the healthcare industry called HOSA — Future Health Professionals. HOSA stands for Health Occupations Students of America.
Girls Scouts, which she has done since first grade, helped her put that interest into action:
“Girl Scouts gave me a reason to actually complete my Gold Award and actually be able to do such a big project and affect so many people.”
