Local girl scouts help area youth
While parents and children were focused on preparing for the first week of school, local Girl Scouts have been hard at work to ensure their fellow classmates have the supplies they need as well as food to eat at home.
The girls gave up their last Saturdays of freedom before the school year started being go-getters and helping to tackle a problem that many of their classmates face – hunger and a lack of basic school supplies.
Crown Enterprises in Kinston donated $500 worth of school supplies and allowed one lucky Girl Scout, Brooke Hinson of La Grange, to shop for supplies for students at La Grange Elementary School. Submitted photo.
Girl Scouts in Greene and Lenoir counties have spent their Saturdays in August collecting supplies, including boxes of pencils, dry erase markers, pencil sharpeners, rulers, pencil boxes, pencil bags, backpacks, calculators, as well as hundreds of dollars worth of food for local backpack feeding programs.
Grace Sawyer, a Cadette from Greene County, spent her summer raising money to buy gifts for students at Contentnea-Savannah School to ensure that participants in their backpack buddy program there receive a special gift on their birthdays. Last year, CSS had 75 students in the backpack program and this year the number is expected to be closer to 100. Grace chose this project for her Silver Award, the second highest award of the Girl Scouts of the USA, and the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. A Silver Award project requires a scout to come up with something to improve their community that is not already being done. It gives a Girl Scout the opportunity to show leadership, organization skills and shows her love and dedication to her community.
For the month of September, this busy group of ladies has chosen to help local animal groups combat the feral cat issue in Kinston by running supply drives at Petsense in Kinston every Saturday and some Friday nights. Donations will benefit Lucky Cats of Kinston and the Lenoir County SPCA.
Do you know a girl who could benefit from the opportunity to be a Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker and Leader like these girls? The beginning of the school year also starts the new year for the Girl Scouts. September is when they begin their big kick-off drive. If you’re interested in more information about Girl Scouts or on how to join a troop in your area visit nccoastalpines.org. like to join in the fun!