Danielle, Maryland

Tell us a little about yourself

I am a Junior student at JMU, and was studying abroad when this pandemic hit! I am now "abroad, abroad," taking my European classes from Bethesda, MD. My quarantine hobbies consist of playing backgammon, baking bread, watching the Bachelor and praying for my friends and family. A fun fact about me is that I love to create art, which I have been uploading to Redbubble since I was 15!

Tell us about your #MakeWaves project

I have been grocery shopping for my grandparents, but I would really like to give back to my community by expanding this, and helping out their whole apartment building (who are all over 80).

My grandmother's 86th birthday is on Monday, and I would really like to do something special, and throw her a surprise 'social distancing' birthday party to allow her to feel celebrated. In order to implement this, I would like to buy ice creams from her favorite local shop, Carmen's, and (keeping social distancing in mind) drop them off in front of everyone in her building's garages, so that she can celebrate with her friends in their driveways and give everyone in her community something to look forward to and have a light in this dark and crazy.

Who or what inspired you?

The elderly, especially my grandma. Also, ice cream spreads light in this dark time :)

Your message to the community

I am so grateful for Vessi for making my project possible, and for giving a light to a local elderly community during this dark time. I am so excited for the opportunity to give back in such a unique and special way, by surprising my grandma for her birthday, while supporting our local ice cream shop!