At Lambert High School, there are a number of students making an impact on their community. One notable student is Tara Ravindranathan.

She is a junior currently attending Lambert High and has a strong passion for giving back to the community. 

For her Girl Scouts Gold Award, a prestigious award that can be given to a top graduate from Girl Scouts, Tara built a library for early-onset dementia patients at Arbor Terrace, South Forsyth. Tara wanted to provide a library these patients can have easy access. Because of the care these patients are put in, they don’t have easy access to books. 

Dementia is a condition where the brain loses many cognitive functions, with some being memory loss or problem-solving skills. It is most common for old people but can affect all ages. 

She was inspired to host this project due to her love for reading. 

“Books have always been my escape,” Tara said. 

She called areas and facilities around her to see how she could help spread her love of reading. Receiving a call back for Arbor Terrace, she was told they did not have access to books, so she made it her goal to provide them with reading material.

To provide the books, Tara hosted book drives and focused on literature that was mostly targeted toward young adults. Genres included: Culinary or Children’s books. 

The project was no quick task. She started one year ago and has continued collecting donations up to this point

Once she realized she was about to achieve her goal, she felt a gratifying feeling of accomplishment. 

As her team was putting up the final touches for the library, the residents of the facility went to personally thank her. 

“It was an indescribable feeling”, Tara mentioned.

As of right now, Tara doesn’t have any plans to make any other projects like this, but it is her hope that in future years, the library remains shelved.