When Tarila Morrone read the details of the ideal candidate for the Empower Girl Award, she quickly came to a decision.
She would nominate her daughter.
Although Ariella is only seven years old, her heart shines brightly, says her mom, adding that she has been recognized at school for her kindness, and being responsible and inclusive.
Ariella was honoured at the recent Mother Daughter Empower Conference and Awards in Innisfil, which is presented by the non-profit Mother Daughter Empower. The award is designed to recognize a girl making a difference within her home, school or community.
Mother Daughter Empower is a non-profit organization that was launched in 2019 by Tara Filteau and her daughter Sophia Ghafoori, who was seven years old at the time. They set out to encourage girls to develop their confidence through education and personal development. The organization offers workshops as well as one-on-one mentorship, coaching, and counselling.
Their work has included presenting the annual conference featuring a female-led group of business owners, vendors and speakers. The March 9 event at the Innisfil library included entertainment, a panel discussion and interactive activities.
It concluded with the awards ceremony recognizing girls who are inspiring others, making a difference in their community, and determined to change the world.
“That just sounded like my daughter, so I nominated her,” says the proud Bradford mom who has been involved in the conference in previous years. “It was more to encourage her, to do good … and knowing that it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“At the event she was actually sick and didn’t want to go on stage.”
But Ariella persevered and joined the other finalists on stage to answer questions. When asked who inspires her, she answered that it was her mom, an entrepreneur.
In the nomination, Tarila described her daughter’s drive, courage and kindness.
Ariella says she wasn’t expecting to win. But she does like helping other kids.
“I like making people happy,” she says.
She also has initiative.
At three years old, her parents built her a lemonade stand as a backyard project during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stand ended up in the front yard and neighbours came over to support her effort.
And through that summer, Ariella was out weekly selling lemonade.
That lemonade stand, with Ariella behind it, has been a feature at the town’s signature event, Carrot Fest, something the Grade 2 student enjoyed doing. Through it, she raised money so that she could sign up for gymnastics — which wasn’t one of the activities her parents had signed her up for.
“For me, my work was done,” says Tarila, who tries to encourage and support her daughters and wanted to give her oldest the opportunity to shine her light. She’s also been watching videos of her oldest daughter at the event in the week that has followed.
“My five-year-old said: ‘I know you’re proud of her but you have to stop watching it over and over because it’s annoying.’ It was a very beautiful event, it was very well organized.”
Tarila recalls that when Ariella first entered school, the principal remarked that the little girl always had something positive to say.
“We were driving home one day and she said 'I just love people so much,'” says her mom. “She has a good heart and she genuinely likes making people feel good, making people feel comfortable.”
