9-year-old girl from Tallahassee recognized for act of goodwill

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Take a second to think about when you were 9 years old. Your biggest worries were probably school work and hanging out with your friends. But one Tallahassee fourth grader, Sophia Warfel, received national recognition, all for a deed from the heart.

Warfel is not your typical 9 year old.

“This wasn’t for me," Sophia says, "this was for other people.”

The generous student from Holy Comforter Episcopal School decided back in March to do something for someone else.

“When COVID came, I had a lot of spare time and I didn’t know what to do with it, so I wanted to do a volunteer project that incorporated the soldiers where my dad worked, so I decided to do care packages for the soldiers," Warfel said.

Forty volunteer hours and months of hard work resulted in 220 bags sent to the 146th Signal Battalion of the Florida National Guard, who will soon be deploying to Europe.

Warfel dropped them off at the Tallahassee armory, who then gave it to the Battalion. For Sophia, it was just the right thing to do.

“I hope it makes them feel good... That they have someone who is watching over them and making sure they have something while they do this,” Warfel said.

And the work did not go unnoticed. The young lady was given a 2020 Presidential Volunteer Service Award. She says it is an accolade that is given more worth, knowing she made an impact.

“That is just really really sweet to me, I think I did really good and that makes me feel really good to think that someone else is enjoying this,” Warfel said.

Sophia made it her mission to spread messages of encouragement through simple acts of goodwill.

“It just made me feel really good that I did something good, but it was not all about me, it was about someone else,” Warfel said.

Sophia hopes this is the first project in her future of service.

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