WINSLOW — Steered by faith, generosity and love of animals, Serenity Worthley, 13, of Winslow, strives to enrich the lives of her family and her community. Her secret? Giving is more important than getting. 

Serenity is always looking to make a difference. She volunteers to pack boxes at Maine Children’s Home, caring for animals and singing Christmas carols at a community gathering are a few examples. 

During the summer of 2023 Serenity, then 11, opened a lemonade stand and raised $1,000, donating half of it to the Humane Society Waterville Area.

She set up a small folding table with stacks of red cups ready to serve cold lemonade to passersby under an oversized colorful umbrella on the sidewalk outside her home on Halifax Street. 

Her dad, Todd Worthley, remembers the hot, humid days. “She would sit out there on her own accord, it was her drive,” he said. Averaging six to eight hours, three days a week, it took about three months to raise the money.

Serenity said she loves dogs though admits to being a cat person. She cares for her cats Missy, Bella, Loki and Killian.

She and her grandmother Barb Worthley co-own Millie, an 18-month-old golden retriever. They have been training the dog at Maximillion Dog Training in Oakland. Serenity thinks Millie has what it takes to be a therapy animal as she is very good at comforting people, she said. Serenity will take over the training full time as Barb, 73, of Oakland, prepares for knee surgery. 

Serenity has helped recover a neighbor’s lost cat through the Humane Society Waterville Area. She received a reward and a Kind Person’s Certificate from the cat’s owner for the gesture. She said she wasn’t expecting anything.

The cat, missing for a few weeks, was seen in the neighborhood, said Serenity. She even had a dream about finding a cat at the humane society.  The next day she stopped at the humane society and saw a poster of a missing cat that looked like the one she’d dreamed of. It also matched the cat she’d seen in the neighborhood.

“I’m a Christian so I believe that it was just something that God had given me the privilege to do” she said.  

Serenity, who is homeschooled, is a member of the youth group at New Beginnings Church of God in Oakland. She said it’s one of the only times she gets to see her friends socially. She gives offering money to support missionaries, said Todd Worthley. 

Serenity wants to be a singer and an actress, singing is something she’s done her entire life. Learning to write songs is her next challenge. While she works on that, she’ll continue to seek ways to serve her community.