Community Corner
Whiz Kids: Redmond Girl Scouts Trick or Treating For a Good Cause
A local Girl Scout troop will be asking for food donations for Pantry Packs on Halloween night.
Names and ages: Redmond Ridge Girl Scout Troop 41326, ages 11-12.
School: The sixth-grade girls attend either in Redmond or the Environmental and Adventure School in Kirkland.
Accomplishments: Interested in helping out the community and earning their troop a Bronze Award for community service from the Girl Scouts, Troop 41326 is raising money and collecting donations for Pantry Packs, an organization that helps families in need in the . Pantry Packs makes weekly donations of food items that kids take home with them on weekends when they don't have access to school meals.
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The troop is raising money and collecting food through a unique combination of projects.
The girls started out by participating in monthly Redmond Ridge Litter Walks, a community clean up effort. Regular participation in the litter walks earns the girls Target gift cards, which they use to buy items for Pantry Packs. Last month the girls earned $90 in gift cards, “which goes a long way,” said Troop Leader Ace Martin. “But they still wanted to do more.”
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On Halloween night, the girls will be collecting food items from homes along their trick or treating route. They are most interested in boxes of macaroni and cheese and cans of chicken noodle soup, but any donation is welcome.
Martin has high hopes for the effort.
“I think the girls will be very successful with it,” she said.
The girls will be making an even bigger effort in November with a food drive at Rosa Parks Elementary from Nov. 4 to 18.
Key to awesomeness: Troop 41326 was looking for a community service project and wanted to do something for their own neighborhood.
“They loved the idea of helping kids that are local,” Martin said.
Martin said that the girls really connected to the effort when they realized they could be helping people that they know or see every day. Trick or treating for Pantry Packs seemed like the perfect way to make it happen.
“It’s a good way to help people so they’re not hungry over the weekend,” said troop member Olivia Martin, one of Ace’s twin 11-year-old daughters. Both girls really enjoy the project.
“I really like helping out,” Emily Martin said. “It makes me feel like a better person.”