Hello,
friends and fellow neighbors and welcome to a uh virtual edition of live like
Fred as I am coming to you from my deck in my home.
But nonetheless,
I am pleased to welcome a very special guest
to live like Fred as a high school student.
She has done so much remarkable things in the community.
We are joined by Gianna Richardson, Giana.
Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to be with us.
Thanks for having me. I'm excited.
Yeah.
Yeah, I am too. So let's get started, Gianna. So you do.
So you do two things you are involved with uh our friends at uh Beverly's birthdays.
And you also are and you also started kind
of like your own campaign called Grounds of Change.
But
how did you exactly get started um with uh Beverly's birthdays?
Yeah. So it's kind of an interesting story.
So when I all through middle school and when I was a freshman in high school,
my entire life
was volleyball. I um
that's where if you would be looking for me,
I was def definitely on a volleyball court.
I, that was my plan for my life,
I wanted to play varsity volleyball in high school and then go play in college.
And then when I graduated,
I wanted to do something in the sports world and be a volleyball coach for a team.
And that was the whole plan.
And then my freshman year everything just completely changed.
I started to hate the sport.
I would come into practice and I was so used to coming here and so happy and so, like,
ready to play and, and I just
couldn't stand it.
I would watch the clock at practice and I was so ready to go home and it was very weird.
It was kind of just this,
like mental switch in my head that volleyball just wasn't my thing anymore.
I had gone through a surgery where I got double jaw surgery.
So I had to break my jaw and it was for like four months,
I couldn't play volleyball or eat or talk or do anything.
So I think when I came out of that,
I was just a different human being and volleyball
just wasn't a part of my story anymore.
So one morning I woke up and I was like, I can't do this anymore.
So I texted my coaches and I quit volleyball and I
texted a lot of my volleyball friends and I was like,
listen, guys, I'm just not gonna play anymore.
And that same night I went to the Norwin Fair and
Norwin is the school district that Beverly's headquarters is in.
And um
there was this big Beverly's painting that was all bright and colorful.
And I was like, what is this place? I like. It was so bright. I loved it.
So I went home that night and I looked up Beverly's birthdays and I found it.
I fell in love with their story. So I,
the next day woke up called Alyssa and I,
the next day I started going into Beverly's and I just would
go for two hours on Mondays and Wednesdays that entire summer.
And then I was so used to playing sports every
day after school that I needed something to fill that.
So I would just start going to Beverly's every single day after school.
So, what did you, uh,
what, um, what did you do at Beverly's when you started? So cool. Yeah.
So they were launching the Beverly's boutique program,
right when I started going to Beverly's.
So they had just gotten their
first big delivery of like hundreds of boxes of clothing.
So,
the first thing I did was just go through
those clothing with the boutique intern at the time.
And then I was actually lucky enough to win the boutique went to its first party.
It was actually my first Beverly's party ever too.
So I've kind of got to grow up through Beverly's with the birthday boutique.
So, yeah.
Yeah. So, um, now you have been involved with Beverly's for a while now.
And can you maybe tell us a little bit about, like, the programs in the front razors?
You started? Um, um, or you were like in charge with the Beverly's birthdays in my.
Yeah. Yeah.
So I haven't started any of their programs but, um, like I said,
the boutique was kind of launching when I came into Beverly's.
So I've got to be able to work really closely with that truck over the past year.
So what the boutique is,
is if you don't know is um it's this mobile fashion truck full of brand new clothing.
And when we go to the birthday parties,
the birthday kiddo get to come on and pick out three
or four new outfits and then get pajamas socks and underwear.
So, um
like when it launched,
they have a person who a Beverly person who shops with the kids.
Her name was Marie at the time. She was the first ever
main shopper with the kiddos. And I kind of was Marie's little assistant for a year.
And then this year I got to take over Marie's position.
So now all the birthday parties when the kiddos shop on the track
gaha shop with them.
But um for fundraising side,
I have done one fundraiser for Beverly's and that was this December,
it was called Jingles and Jammies.
And basically it was a three hour um
donut breakfast with a bunch of it had around 150 high school students.
And I just told my friends I was like, listen,
come in a pair of pajamas and bring a pair of pajamas to donate to Beverly's.
And we'll just sit there for three hours,
listen to music and eat donuts and kind of
just celebrate Beverly's and kids actually showed up,
which is really exciting.
And yeah,
so about 150 high schoolers from my high school Hempfield came
and we raised about 350 pairs of pajamas for Beverly's.
So, yeah. Wow, that is,
that is uh awesome knowing that you did that as a high school student.
I can, I couldn't have imagined myself doing that
when I was in high school. So uh what is your position at Beverly's birthdays now?
Yeah.
So I'm like a programming assistant and I help um get the boutique ready when it
goes to the parties and then I shop with the birthday kiddos at the birthday parties.
So, yeah.
Ok. So uh ownership gears a little bit. So
um was it earlier this year?
Uh you received the uh Mikey and Bob
Spectacular uh super special standout student award?
I think I got that right. How, what did it mean to you when you um received that award?
Wow. So first thing Mikey and Bob are literally the two best people ever.
It was incredible to, well, it's kind of from a different side,
not even me receiving it.
I think it was really awesome that they started
an award about community service in high school.
There are so many scholarships for athletic and academic reasons.
We don't really find a lot of community service stuff.
So I thought it was really cool that they launched something that
they were going from high school to high school every month.
Um just celebrating and giving back to people.
So I think what meant to me was so
cool having two guys who are like celebrities in Pittsburgh
come to my high school and share to my class
just how awesome giving back is and community services.
And it was cool because I got to talk to my um class and kind of thank them a lot of them.
I really think that there's 500 other kids in my
class that could receive that same award this year.
Um I've kind of got a little crazy with community service in
my high school and we have like seven different home rooms and I
at least once a week would be walking to the home room announcing something that I
wanted them to help me with and every single person would take their headphones out,
stop what they were doing, look up and say that they wanted to help.
So I think it was just cool for once having someone
come in and just celebrate that movement in our high school.
Oh,
wow. I love, wow, that is so that is so extraordinary, Gianna. I love that.
So, uh I wanna shift gears now uh to uh grounds of change.
So, um can you maybe explain the purpose of it? And uh why did you start it?
Yeah.
So the story that I tell for grounds and
change is when I first started working at Beverly's,
um, I carpooled with Megs,
the founder down to a birthday party and we live
around 30 to 45 minutes outside of the city.
So usually we like jump in the car with each other and ride down together.
And it was just me and Meg in the car.
And I remember she kind of told me her whole story in that car ride basically from,
I was 15 at the time from when she was 15
to graduating high school to going out to find Beverly's
and I got home and I thought to myself, I was like, wow,
like the beginning of Meg's story, isn't that different from mine?
She had geometry class and she ran for student government and things like that.
And then she went out to graduate and go make such an impact if she can do that.
So can I and so can all of these kids? I'm going to school with.
So I set out to have 100 more of those car ride conversations with people.
So I made this master list.
My first list was just 100 people from
across the country that have done something amazing.
And I wrote them a letter that basically said hi, I'm Gianna.
I'm a 16 year old from Pittsburgh.
And could we just facetime and talk about your story from high school to now?
And people actually answered, which was so exciting.
So for the past nine months I've been
Facetiming nonprofit founders or people doing amazing things and
hearing that same Meg's car ride story and then I go back,
listen to it and I write up a blog about it on my website grounds of change.
So, yeah.
Is it,
are all the people local or national? Um Most of them are national.
I've kind of, a lot of them have been from California that seems to be a
nonprofit kind of a hub. But they've just been all across America basically.
Oh, wow, that's awesome. And uh
what is your favorite thing about like being in
grounds of change and also just a volunteering in general
um for grounds of change? I think it's,
I love talking to people and I love hearing
stories and I think it's been so amazing that um
just to hear that these people, like,
it's from people that are working in hospitals or people
that are working with homeless communities or helping animals,
all of them, I think we're put on this planet for that exact reason
and you listen to them, you just hear you're like, wow,
like it makes you wanna give back to someone.
It's not really that their story is never really about them.
It's all about what they're doing for others.
And I think my favorite thing about volunteering
is just when you're there.
It's never about me, me, me, um,
in high school we kind of are trained to think about us all the time.
It's all about our futures. What are we gonna do? What's our plan?
How are you doing in this class? La la la.
But I remember when I went to Beverly's for the first time.
It was literally like the North Pole in real
life. Like everyone just has their minds on other people.
It's all about giving back to others.
And I think it's so healthy to just be in that kind of environment.
I think that's my favorite part. Just the people you're surrounded with.
So, yeah.
How many people have you uh have you uh
um interviewed for uh grounds of change the other?
Yeah.
So I have 47 interviews posted to my blog and I think I've interviewed 73 people.
So, yeah.
Oh, so you're pretty, so you're almost there? Yeah, we're on our way.
So, uh
how does it feel to know that you have done just so
many amazing things in the community as just a high school student?
Um So I always talk about how this is kind of like my high school sport.
A lot of my friends,
they play soccer or they swim and stuff like that and this
is just the thing that I find so much joy in.
But I think my favorite part of all of this is, um,
kind of proving that my generations kind of got this.
I think that my friends, like I said,
like when I would go to the home rooms and talk about some kind of charity thing,
everyone would take out their headphones,
they would look up and then they'd raise their hand to get involved.
And I think the thing is,
is kind of proving that if you ask someone to help someone else, they're gonna say,
yes,
nine times out of 10 and they'll probably go
above and beyond with helping that person too.
So I think, um,
it's just felt really good to be able to kind of show people that, um, not just me,
but kind of all the kids in my high school can help others
and can give back and that this world is a scary place,
but there's a lot of light in it and a lot of them are high school students.
So, yeah.
Oh, yeah, that is awesome. I love that. And, uh,
so what does it mean to you
to, uh, live like Fred?
Um, so I think it's just treating people with kindness.
I think my, um, in my life,
my Fred that I look up to is Megs and I don't think you've met Megs and, you know,
she doesn't, she never treats
anyone differently.
She's always, um, energy levels at 10 and so is her kindness level.
And I think it's just walking around and every single person you meet,
treating them with kindness and that none of us are
really that different and that we all deserve the chance.
You, everyone deserves a chance
to um hear their story and to tell their story. And um
I think it's just that listening to stories and being kind to others.
So yeah, I could, I could not agree more on being kind to others. It also with me,
you are absolutely.
So
uh our, so our, our final question for you, Giana is
our, is our uh
I guess our trademark question that we have to live like Fred.
So what makes a snappy new Day for Giana?
Um I think it's for, well, always starting the day with some coffee.
Um It's one of the things grounds of change also
started with was the grounds part is literally means coffee.
But I think also just surrounded by people.
I um love,
I love going to school. I love just hearing everyone's story just when I sit in class.
Um every year when a new year starts,
my first thing is who do I not know in this classroom?
And like, how can I get to know them?
And um so that's one version of it.
Another version is, is so when this whole quarantine thing started,
I couldn't go to Beverly's for a couple weeks
and I got to start going back about two weeks ago. And
I think that is one of my um staffing New days is
just being surrounded by those people and being with at Beverly's and just
um like I said,
being surrounded by people that giving back is the number one thing in their mind.
So, yeah.
All right. That is awesome. Well, Gianna, thank you so much for taking some time
out of your day to be with us.
Uh We will make sure to um put some of the links down below uh for uh for
uh grounds of change and also for uh Beverly's
birthdays if you would like to check those out.
So, Gianna, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to be with us.
Yeah, thank you.