SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Sarah Hirschfeldt had no idea an afternoon making cookies for other people would turn out to be one of the best birthdays in her 18 years.

“I couldn’t have picked a better way to spend my birthday,” said Hirschfeldt, vice president of Spanish Fort High School’s Girls Service Club.

The club recently spent an afternoon at Mercy Medical’s John McClure Snook Center in Daphne decorating cookies with residents in the memory care community.

“The girls were a little nervous and apprehensive at first, but they wound up staying long after the cookie party was over and visiting. They’re eager to go back,” said Dianne Bernasconi, a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at SFHS and the club’s faculty adviser.

Bernasconi said the club consists of sophomores, juniors and seniors with the “highest-caliber academics” and a strong interest in serving the community. Each member of the club must complete at least three hours of service “somewhere in the community” each month. Past projects have included volunteering with community festivals across Baldwin County and recently addressing some 1,200 mailings for Westminster Village in Spanish Fort.

According to its official website, the Snook Center offers residents living with Alzheimer’s and dementia “a safe, caring environment where memory-impaired residents or program participants can live with dignity in an atmosphere of love and understanding.”

The program also offers adult daycare services and support groups for family members and caregivers.

“I could tell that none of (the club members) had done anything like this before, and I think it was a very touching event for them. I also thought, especially for Sarah on her birthday, that this was a wonderful passage to adulthood, to see what lies ahead,” said Bernasconi, who herself reconnected with an old friend from her running club during the visit.