When you consider how to help the thousands of homeless individuals living in Gwinnett County, do you think of slime? Neither do we. But GAC’s Anna Hardy, an 8th grader at GAC this year, connected those dots last summer and raised $1,800 for others.

Anna and her friend Noelle Gorinas started with a $200 grant from the nonprofit Kids Boost. They used that money to buy glue, shaving cream, and food coloring. These ingredients, along with a lot of mixing work, come together to create the gooey, moldable substance extremely popular with kids and tweens.

These benevolent girls sold the slime at football games and community events last Fall, while spreading the word about the homeless in need of help in Gwinnett County. Inspired by the cause, young and old alike bought the stretchy slime and even donated extra money toward the cause.

By the end of the summer, Anna and Noelle had earned $1,800. They donated their profit to Home of Hope, a children’s shelter for homeless children and their mothers in Buford. The money will be used to buy new comforters and bedding as new children arrive at the shelter.

“What’s inspiring to me is that these are children who are doing this,” said Lindsey Hardy, Anna’s mom. “They took something as small as slime—something every kid loves—and used it to make a difference to help others. It’s very inspiring to see these girls out there leading the way."