Girl Scout Troop #3381 recently put together gift bags for everyone in the shelter. Included in the bags were items like soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo and all kinds of helpful things. Troop #3381 is led by Brenda Miller and co-led by Lori Botkin, it is a Junior Troop from Evergreen. You may know Lori as the Executive Director of the Flathead Food Bank. This project was part of earning their Bronze Award. In the process they learned how to shop with coupons, how to recruit donations and much perseverance. They called stores, Doctor's and Dentist's offices and little by little had gathered enough items for the shelter.
Lori Botkin said that very little money, around $20, was actually spent in the process, "This was an example of salesmanship as learned by selling girl scout cookies."
Some of the residents in the shelter had this to say:
"Thank you for caring."
"Girls, thanks a bunch. This means a lot."
"Thank you for thinking about us."
"It is with honor and gracious joy that I accept your gift. It is indeed testimony to all things that are beautiful, but, perhaps no where more special than a young girls heart, thank you."
"Thanks a ton, how real nice of you to think of others."
"Girls, thank you so very much for the much needed items. They were all things we needed. As a family staying at the Samaritan House it saves us a lot of money. Thank you so much for thinking of us."
I thought you'd be encouraged to know about this.
The column titled "Currently Serving" shows the number of people we are currently serving and the current size of the shelter, with the end result of 41 Shelter Beds Needed.