Eastern Missouri Girl Scouts Collect Pajamas for Local Foster Closet
December is the Month of Giving, a time for people to make a difference in their communities by helping others. Franklin County Girl Scout Troop 2551 decided to make a significant impact in their community to support a newly established local foster closet to earn their Girl Scout Bronze Award.
Carly Fuemmeler, Julia Hoss, Addison Lutes, Ava McFarland, Caroline Nowak, Clara Nowak, Willamena Nowak and Finnley Ries partnered with Franklin County Foster Closet to bring awareness of their efforts to their community. While working with the Foster Closet, the girls learned that pajamas were the most needed items for children in foster care. So, they organized several donation drives to collect children’s pajamas at local libraries and Beaufort Elementary School.
“I went to my principal at Beaufort Elementary and they let me do a school-wide drive,” said Addison. “They even offered a pizza party to the class that brought in the most donations.”
These extraordinary Girl Scouts teamed up to use their passions for giving back and making a difference. The young leaders collected more than 400 pairs of pajamas for children in need. After the girls dropped off the pajamas at Franklin County Foster Closet, they sorted and organized their donated clothing.
“We wanted to take our volunteering to the next step and the Girl Scout Bronze Award helped us do that,” said Caroline.
The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Juniors, girls in 4th-5th grade can achieve. It requires girls to identify a need in their community and dedicate more than 20 hours on average toward addressing and solving the issue. When Girl Scout Juniors focus on an issue they care about, learn the facts, take action to make a difference, and gain the confidence and skills that catapult them to lifelong success.
