The Girl Scouts have been busy this past year.Our focus was to give back to our community through service projects.
In 2009, Girl Scout Troop 182 attended and was color guard for a memorial service on a farm right outside the town of Edelweiler, where two American planes crashed over a farmer’s field on Aug. 11, 1955. All on board were killed. The farmer that owns the field has not planted crops on it since the accident. Every year, a memorial service is held on this spot. It was an excellent opportunity for our troop to honor these men.
On the Make a Difference Day weekend in October, one ton of pet food was collected by the Girl Scouts and delivered to a local Teirheim, or animal shelter. After one van was unloaded, the staff was very grateful, and were surprised when more vans full of food pulled up. They received enough food to feed all of their animals for two weeks.
The Teirheim received a second visit after the Cadette Service Day. Twenty-four Girl Scouts gathered together to make dog tug toys and gourmet dog treats.
Also, many holiday and get-well cards were designed for active duty service members and wounded warriors. Salt cookie ornaments were colored for decorations for a hospital.
Finally, sewing kits were put together for African women in need of income. So many kits were made that not only did African women get them, but also women and orphans in Eastern Europe.
When you think of Girl Scouts, you think of cookies. The USO received 100 dozen cookies made by Girl Scout families. These were given out to single Soldiers for the Christmas season. So many were made that some were even sent downrange.
As you can see, a lot can be accomplished when the Girl Scout troops of the Stuttgart area work together. It was more than beneficial to do all of these service projects — we had a lot of fun in the process.