Hempfield junior 'approaches service the same way she approached sports'

When Gianna Richason came home from volleyball practice during her sophomore year and told her parents she was quitting, they weren’t sure what to think.

“The summer before that year, I had jaw surgery and couldn’t do anything for three months,” said Gianna, 17, of Hempfield. “I came back to practice and, for some reason, I just hated it.”

That same night, she attended a local fair with friends and saw a large sign for Beverly’s Birthdays, an Irwin nonprofit that provides birthday parties for homeless and needy children.

“I looked it up and just fell in love with it,” said Gianna, a junior at Hempfield Area High School. “I called their office the next day and started going every day after school.”

Less than two years later, Gianna has helped organize events to raise more than $4,000 for another nonprofit, Alex’s Lemonade Stand. She organized a volunteer fair at the high school, managing to land none other than former Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen as a promotional pitch man. She created an event for Beverly’s Birthdays called “Jingles & Jammies,” collecting more than 400 pairs of pajamas as well as money.

All that and more earned Gianna the 96.1 KISS Mikey and Big Bob Spectacular Super Special Stand-Out Student Award, which she received Jan. 8 along with a $2,500 check.

“I like people coming together to do something bigger than themselves,” Gianna said. “I know what we’re doing at Beverly’s is bigger than just a high-school junior doing something nice.”

Gianna said words from her father, Dan, helped inspire her ongoing streak of volunteerism.

“He would always say to me before school, ‘Be kind to someone today,’” she said.

Dan Richason said his daughter didn’t need his words of encouragement to become the person she is today.

“We get a lot of credit for things we didn’t do,” he said with a laugh. “She’s always been a super-kind person and very helpful to people. Even with students at school, she’s always been very aware when there’s a need and goes to people to try and extend some type of comfort.”

Sometimes, eliciting a laugh is necessary to foster that comfort.

“I walked into school wearing a lemon onesie with 15 buckets in my hand for Alex’s Lemonade Stand,” Gianna said. “I would just go up and tell people about it and they’d say, ‘Sure, I’ll do it.’”

Both she and her father praised the students at Hempfield Area High School.

“I can’t express enough how supportive people have been of her,” Dan said. “Teachers and students have been so encouraging. When Gianna asks them to do something, it’s remarkable how many step up and do it.”

Hempfield teacher Katie Kertoy, who nominated Gianna for the Mikey and Big Bob award and serves as advisor for the high school’s United Spartans service club, said her only wish is that they’d met sooner.

“We just have very similar attitudes,” Kertoy said. “That first week of school, we started the volunteer fair and got the ball rolling from there. She’ll come bouncing in and say, ‘Here’s my idea, what do you think?’ And we go from there.”

Gianna is in the planning stages for a “Kindness Week” at Hempfield Area High School in February, and is working on making donation opportunities for Alex’s Lemonade Stand available at Spartan basketball games.

“She left volleyball to do this, and she approaches service the same way she approached sports,” Dan Richason said. “It’s been awesome.”