Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland will be donating gifts and their time over the coming weeks at numerous organizations across the 80 counties the Kansas Heartland council covers. In Great Bend, the efforts of Girl Scout Troop 11135 will benefit the Golden Belt Humane Society.
A supply drive was held Saturday, Oct. 19, in front of Walmart. Food, litter, cleaning supplies and $612 were raised for the shelter pets.
Troop Leader Cheryl Watts said this is the fourth year the troop has completed the fundraiser for the Golden Belt Humane Society. After getting a list of items needed at the shelter, they made fliers to hand out in front of the store. Shoppers were asked to consider adding pet food or other supplies to their own shopping lists. Many returned with purchased items or cash donations.
“Seven grocery carts were completely full,” Watts said. The fundraiser lasted four hours.
Other organizations benefitting from Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland’s 2024 Festival of Giving include: Agape Food Bank (Newton), Angels in the Attic (Arkansas City), Child Advocacy Programs (Salina), City Re-Store (Haysville), Clothes for a Cause (Derby), Ember of Hope (Goddard and Wichita), New Dawn (Wichita) Nursing Homes (throughout Ellis, Gove, Ness, Russell and Trego counties), Sleep in Heavenly Peace (Andover), and Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center (Scott City). Additional organizations will be added to the growing list of those benefitting from the acts of service.
More than 1,100 Girl Scouts participate in this annual community service tradition, which gives girls an opportunity to give back to their community by providing items on social service organizations’ wish lists.
This year, Festival of Giving is part of the Council Centennial Celebration. They are celebrating 100 years since the formation in 1925 of a nationally recognized council across the current council service area. As part of this celebration, members are challenged to document 100 acts of service – that’s 100 ways of giving back to our communities – completed by Girl Scouts.
“Making the world a better place is one of the foundations of Girl Scouts,” Jen Ashcraft, chief operating officer said. “To celebrate our centennial, we are challenging Girl Scouts to participate in the Festival of Giving to document 100 ways of giving – to whom or how we give service – while also earning steps towards badges such as financial literacy, philanthropy, healthy living or animal care.”
