By: Edir Coronado
Kaelin Churchill and Rachel Krouk are members of the Watchung Girl Scouts and recently took the challenge of earning the Girl Scout Cadette’s highest honor, the Silver Award. They accomplished this feat by combining important aspects of their intense allergy situations; and their love for reading, writing, and literature in general. Earning a Silver Award is no easy task. A Cadette has to, as a team or individually, create a plan that could benefit the community.
Kaelin and Rachel chose an issue that many Americans have in common. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, about 50 million people are affected by Nasal Allergies, 30 percent of adults and 40 percent of children living in the U.S. In terms of finance, Americans spent 17.5 billion dollars on health care costs and 25 billion on food allergies. It is safe to say that allergies among the American public is an important topic. Both Rachel and Kaelin have an extended list of allergies; animals with fur, legumes, pollen, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, various fruits, and wheat, ranging from mild too severe.
Kaelin and Rachel chose a unique way to reach the public and raise awareness, by writing a book titled, Life and Us. The book is about two girls, one considered an introvert while the other is outgoing. They are best friends and find common-place with their allergy issues. Their goal is to make it through middle school despite these complications.
The creation of their book took 2 years and was made with the intentions of dispersing advice to people with allergies and helping others cope with their situation. The Youth Services Librarian at the Watchung Public Library, Sharon Orlando, later helped Kaelin and Rachel set up a program, Cook with a Book, where they made allergen free mug-cakes, while excerpts from the book were read.
Kaelin and Rachel’s relationship runs much deeper than their shared allergic experiences, their bond as friends has always been there, but it is that tight knit friendship, and knowing that someone who is close to you shares the same obstacles, that creates a comforting environment.
A shared aspect of their life is literature, whether it be reading or writing, Kaelin and Rachel are fans of the subject. When Kaelin approached Rachel with the idea of writing a book, Rachel jumped at the opportunity. While they both agree that writing a book is a very difficult task, the excitement and sense of accomplishment was well worth the effort.
Kaelin and Rachel truly enjoyed writing their book, but writing a book for the sake of it was never the endgame, more importantly, they wanted to make some sort of impact on the issue at hand. They hope to get plenty of feedback and stories from their readers on how the book may have helped them with some of their situations.
The process of writing a book is harder than it sounds and as Rachel put it, “tedious, but worth it.” As authors, they had to create main characters, settings, topics, tips and tricks for allergies, all of this was just the pre-writing portion. After the pre-writing portion of the process was complete, they delved into the actual writing of the book, with guidance from Sharon. Sharon’s guidance was key throughout the whole process, providing writing workshops as well as advice on promotion and publishing the book.
The process of writing a book is harder than it sounds and as Rachel put it, “tedious, but worth it.” As authors, they had to create main characters, settings, topics, tips and tricks for allergies, all of this was just the pre-writing portion. After the pre-writing portion of the process was complete, they delved into the actual writing of the book, with guidance from Sharon. Sharon’s guidance was key throughout the whole process, providing writing workshops as well as advice on promotion and publishing the book.
(above) Co-authors Rachel Krouk and Kaelin Churchill, along with some members of Troop 65474, Nora Walid,
Shayne Piro, and Ashlyne Piro.
(above) Kaelin Churchill demonstrating mug cakes
