State Honoree

Christina Antonini, 18, of Edgewater, Md., a member of Girl Scouts of Central Maryland and a senior at Severn School in Severna Park, spent thousands of hours over the past six years leading a team of three other Girl Scouts in designing, financing, and building a resale shop and job skills training center at a residential rehabilitation facility for low-income women and their children.When she was in sixth grade, Christina volunteered to host several children's parties at the facility. "I really felt sympathy for the women who had taken the wrong path and became addicted to drugs and alcohol. I wanted to help them with their second chance in life because they were fighting to keep their families together," said Christina.Christina learned that the facility, Chrysalis House, needed a small storage shed to store excess donations. She and her team met with an architect to draw up plans, and made design changes until the small shed grew into a 1,700-square-foot, two-story, $275,000 building that would house a Butterfly Boutique and be a place for residents to learn job skills. Christina made presentations to building suppliers, manufacturers and contractors asking for donations of supplies and labor. She conducted numerous fund-raisers, sold engraved bricks to raise money for the project, and volunteered throughout the construction. Open since January, the Butterfly Boutique sells clothing, household items, books, art, jewelry and other items to provide revenue for Chrysalis House, while enabling residents to learn new job and small business skills.