Published: October 15, 2009 11:25 pm      

Paying it forward

Blooming Grove student hopes to start trend helping others

Shelby Beard, age 15, a sophomore at Blooming Grove, has celebrated homecoming each year since she was a little girl with a homecoming mum.

But this year, she decided to do something a little different to celebrate.

“My dad found something about schools in Dallas, where they replaced their mums with buttons, and used the money they would have spent on the mums and instead, gave it to a charity,” Shelby said. “They were able to raise a bunch of money, and really help their charity.”

Shelby decided to see how that idea would work at her school, Blooming Grove High School, and set about trying to make it happen.

“I thought it was the coolest,” she said. “I thought it was a very selfless act to give up something most girls really get excited about, and instead, start helping other people.”

Shelby wanted to keep it local, and help a charity in Navarro County. She thought of several, and had attended a couple of events for CASA — Court Appointed Special Advocates. CASA volunteers give of their time in order to advocate for children.

“CASA was the charity that kept coming back to my mind, and I like what they do for kids,” Shelby said. “I found out what they do, and the difference they make. It’s like protection for kids who don’t have normal protection — kids who are abused, neglected or even abandoned, and they (CASA) step in as sort of a guardian for that child.”

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Shelby’s dad, Clay Beard, was on the board of directors for Child Advocates of Navarro County, which accounted for her exposure to that particular organization. Her mom, Tammy, who teaches at Blooming Grove, was very supportive of Shelby’s idea, and together, they came up with a design and had campaign-style buttons made up.

The buttons have a picture of a mum, and say, “I Gave Up Mine for CASA.” Shelby carries some with her each day, and Tammy keeps some in her classroom. Shelby made posters to put in the hallway at her school, and also some for the junior high campus.

“We’ve taken in almost $300 so far,” Shelby said. “For a $25 donation, you get a button. But I’ve had people just stop me in the hall at school and give me cash to give to CASA, and one girl’s mom just wanted to donate.”

The plan is to wear the buttons at school and the homecoming game in lieu of decorated mums. Shelby said even one of the homecoming queen nominees bought a button.

“We are glad somebody cares to do these kinds of projects,” said Kimberly Martinez, executive director of Child Advocates of Navarro County. “It is a very generous, thoughtful thing to do. When you’re 15 years old, mums mean a lot, and they don’t come around every day. And to be willing to give yours up for a cause — that’s amazing.”

Shelby said she plans to keep doing the buttons/not mums for charity project each year, and said she will probably choose CASA as the recipient again next year.

“It actually took off better than I thought,” Shelby said. “It blew my mind how excited people got about it.”

Shelby was presented with a picture, drawn by a young child, of a homecoming queen wearing a cape, “kind of like a superhero.” She has it framed, and hanging prominently in her home.

To the children who benefit from CASA, Shelby just may be a modern-day, girl superhero.

“The plan is to spread the idea,” Shelby said.

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