Girl Scouts help Homeless Pets

I am a co-leader, along with 3 other wonderful moms, of a Junior Girl Scout troop. The highest award a Junior Girl Scout (4th and 5th graders) can earn is the Bronze Award. In addition to several pre-requisites, the girls have to complete 15 service hours each to receive the award.

Our 5th grade girls wanted to help pets. They decided they wanted to donate items to a local shelter, and then the fun began!  They attended a local pet adoption event this fall and talked with several rescue groups and shelters. There they decided they wanted to assist the Town and Country Humane Society. They had to complete two badges related to the project and all earned their "Pet Care" and "Wildlife" badges. They each earned their Junior Aide award by assisting with Daisies and Brownies in our troop. They also earned a Sign of the Star patch by completing various activities.  All of this was required BEFORE they could start working on the actual service project!

A few weeks ago we got the girls together and made homemade dog and cat treats. Everyone was amazed that we made over 500 treats for well under $20.

     Salmon treats are stinky!

Everyone took turns

Today the Juniors met with several of our younger girls to complete more of their hours. We created fleece blankets, rag rugs, dog tug toys, and happy socks (socks with stuffing and catnip). It was wonderful to see everyone working together, and amazing at how many items we could create with some donated items. We are helping the animals AND recycling!

One group worked on fleece blankets (made in several sizes)

Some cut strips for rag rugs...

And others made "happy socks"

The girls each have about 4 hours of work to complete their projects. With our luck, Claire was sick and unable to attend today so we will be doing some work at home. Next, we will apply for our Bronze Award, and hope that the girls will be presented with them at a ceremony in June. It is so rewarding to see them get involved in the community!