3 Cheers: Jersey Woman Gets Girls Talking
MARLTON, N.J. (CBS) – Every month, you'll find girls from Girl Talk Marlton gathered to make sandwich after sandwich.
"We're making PB&J for the homeless," 11-year-old Kaiya McIntosh said.
"We usually we make about 200 or more," 13-year-old Nicole Clifford said.
"It's teamwork," 13-year-old Alysa Kuster said, "and the squirt bottles of jelly help a lot."
The squirt bottles of jelly and more are all thanks to Mary Beth Iannarella, who loves these girls as much as the sandwiches.
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"She's an amazing person, inspiring, and I'm just glad to know her," Alysa said.
"I love Mary Beth," said 12-year-old Kenikki Thompson of Sicklerville. "She brought me into this group when I was struggling through bullying and everything, and I just felt welcomed by a family."
Mary Beth helped bring the Girl Talk mentoring program for fifth to 12th graders to the South Jersey area.
"It's so tough to be a teenage girl, just from myself growing up," Mary Beth said. "But the world is so advanced since I was growing up, I just want to make sure that I'm an ear for the girls if they need it."
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Through weekly chapter meetings like PB&J night, Girl Talk helps build self-esteem and leadership skills.
"The older girls in high school are the mentors, are the leaders. They mentor the younger girls to help them through the difficulties of being a teenage girl."
"Of which there are a lot!" said CBS3's Chandler Lutz.
AnnMarie DeMarco has worked with Mary Beth and Girl Talk Marlton for the past seven years and says she has learned so much from her.
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"She does so much and she does it selflessly, and the amount of time it requires to organize it, there's so much more involved than everybody knows," AnnMarie said.
This 3 Cheers is for Mary Beth building self-confidence one lesson at a time.
Fourteen-year-old Noa Mikes of Mt. Laurel summed it up: "There's someone always going to be there to give you a smile, to give you a hug."
