SCOUTING FOR FOOD

Today, all four girls turned out to help collect food to feed the hungry families that live right in our own communities.

I was so proud of each of the girls. They all started off a little leery and shy but soon, they were like pros out there. They hit up every man and women who went into Albertsons through the door we we were assigned to.

I would say that about 80% of the people , listened to the girls, took the flier and purchased at least one can of food to add to the mounds we collected.

Some even donated money. I think we collected around $80 in cash. We turned it over to the Boy Scouts as we collected it because Girl Scouts are not allowed to actually collect cash donations.

The Boy Scouts were happy with every dollar they made. All the money will be turned in with the food to Second Harvest.

There were times when the girls started to get a little tired. Yet, they pressed on and hung in there.

Here, Jack Lamey, who was in charge of making sure the whole operation ran smoothly, stopped by to say Thank You to the girls.

I think the girls were really impressed when they heard they were helping to gather enough food for One Million meals! Wow! That is a lot of food.

The girls had no idea there were that many people living right near us who go hungry every day. I think it made them understand how important their job was today.

They learned the food was collected from all the stores and then delivered to Second Harvest Food Bank in Anaheim and then they made sure all the food made it to the people who needed it.

While this yearly food drive is actually put on by the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts help out a lot by giving their time to hand out the fliers and explain to the customers why they are collecting the food and where it will go.

I think it's great that the two groups work together for such a great cause.

Every time the girls do community service it gives the girls a sense of pride. It also helps them to understand that there are so many people out there in the world that have so much less then they do.

I explained to the girls how I am keeping track of all the hours of community service they do because it is going towards earning them their Bronze Award and also going towards working for the Presidential Award.

They had no idea and were excited about the idea of the President of the USA giving them an award.

Haili wanted to know if they would get to meet the President. She was a little sad when I told her no, but that he would be told about her and was the one who signed the certificate.

Jesse asked if The President would sign her hat and the award. I had to explain to her that the awards were all he would be able to sign for us since he is very busy running the Country.

They also learned a little bit more about what makes the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards they can earn through Girl Scouts, so exciting.

It was nice seeing the girls all working together towards the same goal. Knowing they were working so hard and giving their time to help others really made me happy. I know that as long as these girls continue on the path they are on now, they will all grow up to be wonderful, caring and giving adults.

I also really enjoyed seeing the girls working together to make sure they all worked as a team. Each one stepping up to talk to the customers and answer their questions.

They really did a super job and made sure to thank each person the spoke to, even if they were told the customer wasn't interested in purchasing any food.

So another great activity was completed. Another badge was earned. Lessons were learned and good deeds done.

These girls are really GREAT!!!