Girl Scouts: Making the World a Better Place
Cookie season is in full swing at our Girl Scout Council. As you are approached by uniformed girls begging you to buy Girl Scout cookies, please remember that the donation you are making will be put to good use. Not only do the scouts learn how to treat customers, how to manage money and how to handle rejection, the proceeds from the sale support the program that does so much good in the community.
For some people, cookie time is the only time they see their local Girl Scouts. Let me show you a bit of what goes on behind the scenes when you’re not looking.
All Girl Scouts swear to follow the Girl Scout Law:
As part of “making the world a better place,” troops perform service projects and take action projects throughout the community. I have just a few examples of the activities the local Klein Trails Girl Scout Community have participated in over the past months.
The 3T project, founded by one of our volunteers, collects a top, a toy and toiletries for children in need at Christmas time. Klein Trails, with help from local businesses, donated supplies and delivered 472 complete bags to the schools in our area. The project covered EVERY bag requested by the Klein ISD. The girls were so generous, we had extra supplies which were donated to shelters in the area. This particular project is becoming a treasured tradition.
Troop 13514 facilitated the delivery of 2028 boxes of cookies to the military troops overseas. The gentleman presenting the “thank you” plaques (which included a flag flown over Kabul) told us the American soldiers shared the cookies with their fellow peacekeeping officers from other countries. They were shocked by the support our American soldiers received from home. The generosity of Girl Scouts, with your support, showed the world that we believe in our men and women overseas. Remember this when you pass that booth outside your grocery store. If you don’t want a box or have had your fill, ask the girls if they donate boxes overseas. Odds are the answer is YES. Buy a box for the military. You support the girls in your community and the people fighting for our country with one $4 purchase. Tell me where else you can get that kind of deal?
Klein Trails likes to lead one event a month for our leaders to get a break in the planning and for our girls to meet other scouts and learn something new. This December, we hosted a Bake-a-Thon. Over a hundred girls met at our sponsoring church to bake goodies, while they earned the safety pin. These girls from Kindergarten to fifth grade baked and packaged 70 boxes for the hardworking first responders in our neighborhoods. Firefighters, nurses, EMT’s, police officers all were surprised with decorated boxes of homemade goodies from our grateful little girls.
Huge donations are not the only thing the Girl Scouts do for the community. At regular meetings and as part of our normal programs, the girls consistently plan activities to “make the world a better place.” We make pine cone feeders to hang at camp to support wildlife during the winter. We collect canned meat, bottles of water and packages of fruit for bag lunches for homeless men and women. We author webpages to educate the public on subjects the girls researched: http://troop13405takesaction.org/. We clean local parks and plant flowers and trees.
Troop 114002 worked a four hour shift at the Houston Food Bank sorting food. The girls learned how lucky they are to have dinner every night and that most of the hungry people in our community are not homeless. More importantly, at this young age, the scouts discovered THEY can help. It’s not someone else’s problem. It’s everyone’s.
Troop 114024 made Blessing Bags at their last meeting. These are ready-to-go packages that you can hand out to any homeless person you meet. Contained inside are toiletries, socks and other necessities. The girls wrote sweet letters to the recipients. One said, “If you feel scared and alone, don’t, because God loves you and is always with you.” Very sweet. Watch these girls grow and mature and take care of their community.
Remember, Girl Scouts do not hide behind closed doors making silly crafts all year. That’s only part of the time. (Look. It’s fun. Don’t judge us.)
The majority of the girls’ time is spent in their local neighborhoods improving the lives of those they touch. Though most of their work goes uncelebrated, if you look, you will see them. That little girl helping her elderly neighbor walk her dog. The girl in class who makes sure everyone recycles. The brave girl who invites the new student to sit with her at lunch. This is what Girl Scouts teaches. This is what you’re supporting.
The next time you see a girl in a vest holding up a box of cookies. Stop. Buy one. YOU will be doing your part at “making the world a better place” through these young minds and busy hands.
What service or take action projects have your girls done?