During the past two years, girls strived to “do a good turn
daily.”
Two years ago, the troop of 20 fourth graders from Marshall
Elementary School in Wexford completed nearly 1,500 good deeds.
This commitment to community service was so well received by the girls and their families, troop leaders Amy Herne, Belle Zimmer and Brandy Campbell decided to up the ante.
They challenged the girls in July 2013 to work toward
earning the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Zimmer began tracking all of
the girls’ service hours and certifying all of the work girls did in their
community. The troop logged more than 600 service hours in 11 months. In
addition to troop projects, girls were encouraged to volunteer on their own and
with their families.
The girls completed a variety of service projects as a
troop, including:
·
helping the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden get ready
for a fairy garden event by collecting items from the woods.
·
creating "Birthday-in-a-Bag” kits for North
Hills Community Outreach’s food bank.
·
volunteering at the Marshall Township Halloween
Parade and Celebration by hosting a game for local children.
·
collecting winter hats, gloves and scarves for
Light of Life Mission.
·
building bird houses for the Pittsburgh Botanic
Garden.
·
assembling more than 40 Jared Boxes for patients
at Children’s Hospital.
·
making Valentines for a local nursing home.
·
sending Christmas cards to hospitalized
veterans.
·
hosting a karaoke night for Ronald McDonald
House.
Some of the efforts the girls did on their own/with their
families included:
·
volunteering at local nursing homes.
·
dance-a-thon for Cystic Fibrosis
·
ringing bells for the Salvation Army
·
clean-up of a local fire station
·
local church events
Each Girl Scout was presented a Silver Pin for her uniform
and a certificate signed by President Obama at a Girl Scout ceremony in June.
