Kelly Republicano has always been invested in helping others. In high school, the Burke, Virginia, mom of four founded and chaired the “Big Sisters for Little Sisters” mentorship program, where older students would help incoming freshmen transition into high school life.
After spending 15 years in the health and wellness industry, Republicano has started doing charitable work again as the co-leader of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop.
The self-proclaimed “chaos coordinator” is currently focused on giving back to mothers in need for Mother’s Day. Her Girl Scout troop is putting together self-care gift baskets for mothers at the Kathleen Hanley Family Shelter and two local domestic violence shelters, as well as hosting a Mother’s Day brunch, all with the help of donations from the local community. She shares what inspired her to give back to local moms.
What nonprofit efforts did you facilitate as part of the Girl Scouts before this Mother’s Day project?
The first one we did, which was very personal for me, was Hurricane Helene relief. My four kids and I went down to Asheville for my sister’s wedding the day before the hurricane hit. The power started going out during my sister’s rehearsal dinner, so the wedding had to be canceled.
We eventually found a gas station where we could get food and power, and our first thought was that we should go back and bring supplies into town. But it wasn’t safe for our kids. Luckily, I found a church that was doing daily run-ins into town, so I reached out to my neighbors, and we started collecting goods.
Our second project, making holiday gift baskets for children, was inspired by something I would do with my family as a kid. My mom would take my sister and I to a local battered women’s shelter, and we would deliver gifts to the kids there. For some reason, I started thinking about that again this year, only 20 days out from when we wanted to deliver. But the community was amazing. We were able to get gifts for 150 kids, which covered our local family shelter and two domestic violence shelters. And we delivered the gifts on my mom’s birthday, Dec. 23, and that felt appropriate since she was the inspiration for this project.
How did those efforts lead to the Mother’s Day self-care gift baskets and brunch project?
I had a lot of people who’d donated toys or gift cards ask me how they could get involved in the project. All these people wanted to help, but we didn’t have a way to help planned. I said, “What about Mother’s Day? If anyone is underappreciated and doesn’t get the things they need, it’s moms in shelters, and moms in general.”
What has the community response to this effort been like?
I was initially disheartened by the lack of response I was receiving … I decided I needed to get more creative and started reaching out to local newspapers and businesses. … We’ve gone from absolute crickets to an overwhelming response. It’s been like night and day.
The hard thing is that we’re asking people to give during a really difficult time, since so many families have been facing uncertainty, financial hardship and disability. So many of my friends got unexpectedly laid off. I knew it would be hard, but it felt right.
How have other mothers supported you?
One reason this project was so important to me was because we’ve moved so many times, usually with a newborn or a very young kid. … I’ve had to get really creative in building community.
I’m actually very bad at asking for help … But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it alone anymore, so I was forced to ask for help.
When I was in Asheville, I had a lot of uncertainty about if I would be able to feed my kids, but that was temporary. I can’t imagine waking up every day and not knowing if I can feed and take care of my kids.
Want to help? Learn how to volunteer for the May 10 Mother’s Day brunch at kellyrepublicano.com or tinyurl.com/MothersDaySelfCare.
