March is Women’s History Month, which highlights the contributions of trailblazing women in history and modern society, and is celebrated in the United States and other countries.

A glance at the Butler Eagle this past week provides a smorgasbord of great things being done by women in the county — including young women who are keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive during the COVID-19 pandemic and doing things to help others.

Last week, the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Women’s Leadership Council of Butler honored three women during the group’s spring mixer.

The honorees included Dr. Kathy Selvaggi, Butler Health System’s chief community health officer; Lisa Campbell, dean of workforce development at Butler County Community College; and Jean Bowen, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) coordinator and program specialist at the Center for Community Resources.

Selvaggi noted one of her favorite parts of her career has been mentoring young people, while Campbell described her role as providing training to people in the community who lack confidence in order to get over their personal barriers to employment.

Bowen oversees seven VITA offices with more than 60 volunteers who process income tax returns and coordinates the annual Bundle Up Butler coat drive to help disadvantaged adults and children in the community.

Congratulations to all three women — and we offer our thanks for their leadership in the county.

Meanwhile, two young women who haven’t yet started their careers are already doing big things.

Anne Lindsay, a 15-year-old Freeport High School freshman, started a sourdough bread business during the pandemic, and it has become so popular that the demand is outgrowing her capacity to bake enough loaves.

Now, she is making 10 loaves per week and has added rolls and sourdough soft pretzels to her repertoire. She is considering converting her family’s garage into a microbakery.

And Mollie Riggenbach, a Brownie in GSWPA Girl Scout Troop 20462, collected donations to give cookies to first responders in Harrisville and Slippery Rock. She and her mother were able to give 78 boxes of cookies — 15 of which they personally donated — to the boroughs’ police and volunteer fire departments.

Both Lindsay and Mollie are to be commended for their efforts. So many Americans have spent the COVID-19 era on their couches, but these two young women have used the time to be enterprising and give back to their community.

During this Women’s History Month, there’s a lot to celebrate here in the county, where women from multiple generations are leading the way.

— NCD