Pajama drive earns Bethel Park DECA team trip to nationals
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Meghan Krapp and Meriss Gable help sort pajamas to donate to shelters and foster homes as part of their DECA project.
Meghan Krapp, Tori Krapp and Meriss Gable.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Megan Krapp and Meriss Gable sort pajama sets to donate to children in foster homes and shelters as part of a DECA project.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Meghan Krapp and Meriss Gable, along with moderator Emily Smoller, show off some of the pajama sets they collected as part of a DECA project.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Meghan Krapp and Meriss Gable stand by some of the poster boards they created for the Pajama Pals project.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Meriss Gable and Meghan Krapp look over the posters they created for their presentation of Pajama Pals at the DECA competition. The pair along with Tori Krapp won the state competition for their project and will compete at nationals being held April 22-27 in Atlanta.
As a child growing up in Bethel Park, Tori Krapp anticipated bedtime because she could slip into her favorite pair of pajamas.
“A matching Dora the Explorer set with a shirt and pants,” she said.
Tori added that pajamas impact a child’s life.
“It gives them a sense of home and self,” she said.
Meghan Krapp, Tori’s younger sister, and classmate Meriss Gable shared similar memories. They even admit to wearing PJ sets to bed as teenagers.
That sense of comfort and fondness for sleepwear spawned the trio’s idea for a DECA project that scored first place in the state and earned the team a trip to Atlanta to compete in the national competition being held April 22-27.
“Pajama Pals” is a nonprofit charitable organization created by the Krapp sisters and Gable. Their campaign collected sleepwear for children in shelters and foster care.
“Sleep is one of the most important things in a child’s life, and by giving them pajamas we are providing them with something comforting to wear while allowing them to get a good night’s sleep,” Tori said.
“We kind of take pajamas for granted because we’ve had them our whole lives,” Meghan added. “They are not something we think about a lot. Some kids don’t have them. It’s a great thing to be able to give kids a comfortable night’s sleep and to feel more welcome in a new home.”
Pajama Pals collected or purchased 321 sets of night attire through donations, including $830.01 in cash. They were given to organizations such as FosterLoveProject, Pink Pamper, Family Links and Goodwill as well as multiple shelters.
“Pajamas give kids a sense of stability,” said Gable. “Even when they are transitioning into homes, they can have that tangible comfort with them because a lot of kids don’t have new ones or new clothes in general.”
Gable gained the interest for the fundraiser from her mother, who started Pajama Prayers. When Gable pitched the idea of restarting the program, the Krapp sisters agreed it would make the ideal DECA project.
“Children in foster care or children transitioning into homes don’t have enough pajamas,” Gable said. “So our school wanted to help out.”
“When Meriss asked me to do it with her, I thought it was interesting,” Meghan Krapp said.
The idea so intrigued Krapp that she composed an article about the project that garnered her a national writing award. Krapp hopes to one day become a journalist.
A junior, she is interested in attending Duquesne University. Meriss, who plans to major in business, hopes to attend Duquesne as well while Tori Krapp will enroll in the pre-med program at Seton Hill University for the 2022 fall term. She also will play lacrosse for the Griffins.
Thanks to DECA, all three agreed they have gained tools that will enable them to be successful in their careers as well as life.
Meriss and Meghan embraced the public-speaking aspect of the club for starters.
“First off, DECA helped me with that and then putting aspirations to what I want to do because I had no interest in marketing or business before,” said Meriss, who is a competitive and regular game-day cheerleader for the Black Hawks.
“DECA helped me develop more confidence, especially with speaking with other people,” Meghan said. “It also helps with meeting new people.”
Through DECA, Tori also sharpened her social and presentation skills. Through the years of preparing and presenting with DECA, she has honed her communication skills as well.
“I have gotten more comfortable with talking in front of large groups of people,” she said. “I also feel more comfortable and better equipped when going into interviews and talking to people of authority.”
Emily Smoller is the authority on DECA at Bethel Park High School. She is in her 15th year as a marketing instructor. She is also the school’s DECA moderator. She explained that the Pajama Pals project has been the focus of her team for almost a year because of planning, implementation, which included the fundraiser that ran from October through the end of 2021, and the submission of a 20-page report for the competition.
“They are the ones that had the organization to bring this project to light. They were the managers of everything,” Smoller said. “They planned activities to encourage sales and donations.
“The relationships they developed with the shelters, the collections they ran and just raising awareness and getting the word out about the mission was so well-received that they are looking to continue the project.”
The group is also grateful for the opportunity the project presented them to make a difference.
“I really enjoyed getting to work on this project. I liked having the chance to help others and give to children in need,” said Tori. “I’m grateful for everyone that donated and helped us along the way.
“I feel our team learned and accomplished a lot from this,” she continued. “We gained the knowledge of how to run a successful charity mission and help others in the process.”