Heather Hrina-Medvec of Poland, a member of Holy Family Parish, wanted her daughters to get involved with charitable work at a young age. As she searched the area for somewhere to volunteer, she realized that area nonprofits do not take participants younger than 12. Her daughters were much younger than that. So, she started her own nonprofit, the Boo Squad.
“My daughters—Caroline and Madison—were five and two. There was nothing besides Girl Scouts or Brownies; nothing really for their ages to volunteer,” she said.
Hrina-Medvec’s mother taught her the importance of volunteer work, and she was hoping to pass those values on to her daughters.
“My mom was born in Europe. She came over to America, and she did not speak any English, and she was poor. She was made fun of because of her accent and the clothes that she wore. But my mom always instilled in us to be kind to others,” said Hrina-Medvec.
Giving back to the community was also a major reason for starting the Boo Squad.
“The community helped my mom and her family so much when she was growing up. It was the kindness of others that helped her get where she was. I wanted to instill those same values in my girls,” said Hrina-Medvec.
When she created the nonprofit, she wondered whether her children were too young, but decided to move forward with her idea. “I had some friends through preschool for my older daughter, and I thought ‘I’m just going to put it out there to some of my friends and see who wants to come.’ I reserved a room at the library, and five or six kids came with their moms,” she said.
The name of the group was inspired by a project that Hrina-Medvec took on with her daughters, which further encouraged her to pursue the nonprofit. It was October, so she bought Halloween bags and filled them with treats and candy. They surprised their family and friends with the bags, leaving them on their doorsteps.
She realized that her daughters understood the concept of helping others or bringing someone joy. They were so excited to be involved with putting the bags together and leaving them for someone. “It made them feel good for doing something nice,” Hrina-Medvec said.
Originally, the group had a Halloween connotation because of its name, but it expanded its mission to charitable endeavors at other times of the year. “We’ve done a lot of different missions—activity bags for children at Akron Children’s Hospital, ham giveaways at Christmas, school supplies collection, community kitchen—but our big project is Thanksgiving dinner,” she said. “We give a full Thanksgiving meal from the plates, napkins, turkey, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, rice, pasta, carrots, dessert pies—even coffee, tea and Kool-Aid,” she said.
The first year, the Boo Squad provided Thanksgiving for 10 families. The second year, it was 30 families. In 2019 it was 60 families. In 2020 during the pandemic, they still provided meals.
“There were a lot of restrictions. We usually delivered the meals, but we didn’t want the kids to be exposed so we had a drive-through for over 100 families. Last year, we provided Thanksgiving for 265 families,” said Hrina-Medvec.
Though the group is always open to new participants, the original Boo Squad members were Caroline’s and Madison’s friends—who have continued to participate. As the Boo Squad members got older, they became involved in extracurricular activities and their projects have adapted accordingly.
“We used to do tons of little projects but now we usually stick with the Thanksgiving food drive, serving at the community kitchen and the Christmas ham drive,” said Hrina-Medvec.
Hrina-Medvec’s daughters now have 10 years of projects under their belts. Madison, now 15, and Caroline, now 12, have been involved with the Boo Squad since its inception.
“We are grateful that our mom started this,” said Madison. “I really like getting to help others and getting to see the joy on their faces when I help them. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
“My favorite mission is working at the community kitchen,” said Caroline. “Sometimes we made the food, or one person could put the fruit or the main course or the side dish on the plate. You can give out water or juice. I was proud of myself making a difference, seeing how thankful they were.”
“The main goal was to teach kids about kindness but also to serve the community. I also wanted to teach them inclusiveness. A lot of the kids who are involved in the Boo Squad are used to seeing kids that look like them. They are suburban and don’t have to face a lot of adversity,” Hrina-Medvec said about the mission of the Boo Squad, adding, “I wanted them to interact with kids, families that may look different than them or have a disability, could be older or a veteran. This exposes them to different populations outside of their bubble. When they encounter someone in the real world or at school, I hope they are more inclusive, tolerant and understanding of these different populations.”
The Boo Squad plans to continue making a difference in the community but there might be a bit of a leadership change.
“What I would like to do with my older daughter and her friends is for them to almost take over the Boo Squad—with guidance. They could lead the missions and help facilitate the missions with the younger kids,” Hrina-Medvec said. “I would have them come up with mission ideas, and I think it would teach them good communication skills because they would be planning, communicating and trying to get sponsors. They would learn life skills.”
To learn more about the Boo Squad, connect with them on Facebook. They are accepting monetary donations for their Thanksgiving food drive through November 13 and food donations through November 20. You can donate an entire meal to a family for $62 or by donating the food for the Boo Squad to prepare.
