22 December 2008
Megan Melott – Great Girl Scout
Posted by admin under: recognition .
I read Kipp Hanley’s story about Megan with deep emotion. She is a person that anyone would be lucky to know. Her fight with cancer has not stopped her from participating in Girl Scouts and giving back to her community. What an inspiration.
Having beaten bone cancer in her leg when she was in elementary school, the now 17-year-old Dale City resident is spending much of her free time giving back to those suffering from medical problems.
Each year, Melott participates in the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Santa Claus visit to sick children. A decade ago, she was one of those kids.
In first grade, Melott was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma — a common type of bone cancer in children — and went through more than a year of chemotherapy. That first year, she was too sick for a visit, said her mother, Jane, and at one point doctors said amputation might be necessary.
But after a successful surgery and chemo treatment, Melott was doing well enough for a visit. It was an experience that Melott and her family never forgot.
“The whole house knew he [Santa] was coming except her,” Jane said. “She had just started to have her hair grow back in and I had this silly little lacy thing around her head that you use for a bald baby’s head just so she’d look more like a little girl. When they got close to the house, they turned on the siren and were blowing horns when they pulled up. Megan was like, ‘What in the world?’”
When she was finally clear of cancer, Melott and her mother began making breakfast and eventually lunch for the volunteers that day.
In 2005, Melott donned the Santa’s helper outfit and began riding with the volunteers to the homes of sick children. This year, Melott and some friends helped wrap presents at her home before she joined the rest of the volunteers Dec. 13.
…
With just a semester left at Hylton High School, Melott is looking forward to majoring in biochemistry and eventually finding a cure for cancer. She is also heavily involved with the Relay for Life, a series of charity races organized by the American Cancer Society.
Even as a Girl Scout, Melott is positively affecting those in the cancer community. One of her major projects with the Scouts involves compiling audio tapes of picture books that can be played to sick children. To do this, she has combed the area, recruiting various people of various ages to read for the tapes.
…
When Melott was diagnosed with cancer, her older sister, Emily, now 28, held multiple garage sales as a 16-year-old to help raise money for treatment. The garage sale got so large that the family was forced to hold it at VFW Post 1503 on Minnieville Road.
“That showed Megan how many people cared about her,” Jane said.
Melott is now returning that kindness with every toy she delivers.
There’s more. Go ahead and click on the story. It’s great.
- Scouts Shiver Swim
- Nice Cap on a Frustrating Hoax
- Girl Scouts and Locks of Love
- Girl Scout Joins Mom in Breast Cancer Awareness
- Buy HQ, Sell Camp
