It’s never too early to practice kindness and generosity and Colusa Daisy Girl Scouts were eager to start.
The second grade girls took on their first community service project this month by buying gifts for children around the world, while also reaching out to other troops around the country who share their love for scouting.
Daisy members Charlotte Green, Piper Rogers, Skyler Deras, Aurora Avera, Paisley Rader, and K.J. Sager shopped for gifts for children in order to participate in Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse International Relief and churches around the world to ship Christmas shoeboxes filled with gifts and school supplies that provide joy to thousands of boys and girls in need worldwide.
Five of the members gathered at the Scout Cabin in Colusa on Nov. 16 to put their shoeboxes together and write a brief note to the child who may receive their gifts.
“I got gifts for a girl who is five to nine,” Charlotte said.
Others chose gifts for children as young as two, using their own money, making their own selections, and, when possible, using the scanners in stores to process the purchase.
At the Scout Cabin, the girls carefully packed each box, knowing they would be opened by a child living somewhere far away.
“They go to somebody who lives in a different country,” Piper said.
The shoeboxes were delivered to the Colusa Assembly of God Church, from where they traveled to a processing center to be inspected and prepared for international shipment, said Troop Leader Debbie Schantz.
“This is the very first community service project that they have done,” Schantz said.
In addition to the shoeboxes, for which the scouts will receive badges, the troop is working on a “Traveling Suitcase” project.
“We are connecting with troops all over the United States,” Schantz said. “We are exchanging Girl Scout swaps and postcards with different states. As we get something from them, we write them back and send them a swap and a postcard of California. We are learning about the United States and learning how to build a sisterhood within Girl Scouts.” ■