People often want things to be done for them, but more often than not, they would rather let someone else do the work to make it happen.

A story in the May 26 edition of the Advocate-Messenger introduced you to two young ladies looking to save the swimming pool operated by the Streamland Swim Club in the Streamland neighborhood. Their goal was to raise enough money to preserve the pool for another year, paying for the expenses associated with the pool at a time when its largest source of income – membership dues – could not be collected.

While it would have been easy for two 13-year-olds to sit back and wish someone would save their neighborhood swimming pool, Maggie Powell and Campbell Johnson decided to get out and do their part to save it.

In addition to going door to door with flyers in their neighborhood, the two also established an online fundraising campaign at the popular website GoFundMe.com, with a goal of raising $7,000. Estimates showed that approximately $10,000 would be needed to keep the pool afloat during this season of lost memberships, and since the club itself had received nearly $3,000 for the cause, the girls had their work cut out for them to raise the money, with the first of June as their deadline.

Thanks to their actions, and to the generous community members who donated, the money has now been raised. The girls contacted me Monday, right on that June 1 deadline, to let me know they had reached their goal, and they shared the photo you see here, with their giant check in the amount of $7,550. Since the printing of the check, their total has increased to $7,625, and will likely continue to climb. The money was collected in just 10 days after the online campaign was activated, with nearly 100 individual donations being made.

Congratulations to Maggie and Campbell. I don’t personally know these young ladies, but I still feel pride after seeing them want something to be done, and then being willing to do the work themselves to make it a reality. You both set a wonderful example for Boyle Countians of all ages.