Girl Scouts in Westborough

Hannah O'Keeffe, Girl Guide from Barnes, London, England, visited family recently in Westborough. Her vacation spanned Memorial Day weekend. As a result, Hannah was invited to march with the Westborough Girl Scouts in the 2010 annual Memorial Day parade. Her cousins, Sophie Eisenthal  and Madeleine Eisenthal (Brownie and Daisy Girl Scouts, respectively) were thrilled to have their cousin participate in a service unit event, and all of the girls helped carry flags during the parade.

Hannah's Girl Guide level in London is the 7th Barnes Brownie Pack. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is comprised of 145 member organizations, including Girl Scouts of the USA. WAGGGS not only unites all of its member organizations, but also promotes and establishes Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting organizations around the world.

The goal of WAGGGS is to enable girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world. In 2012 the Girl Scouts of USA will celebrate their one hundredth anniversary with activities planned over all the council. For information on Westborough Girl Scouts please call Judy at 508-870-1895.

Pictured left to right: Sophie Eisenthal, Madeleine Eisenthal, Hannah O'Keeff

In about a month, over one hundred children from New York City will visit with families in the area.  The Fresh Air Fund children will visit for one to two weeks and explore the area.  When they get off the bus to meet their host families,each child will be given a gift.  Nicole Ransden and Bridget Owen, Cadette Girl Scouts from Northboro, will have a backpack for each child filled with school supplies.  The girls are working on the project as part of their Girl Scout Silver Award.

The Girl Scout Silver Award is recognized as the second highest award in Girl Scouting. It is a national award with national standards awarded by a local council on behalf of Girl Scouts of the USA.  Recipients are  recognized as future community leaders. The Girl Scout Silver Award is a service-oriented award pursued by girls who want to make a lasting difference in their community. 

The girls have completed all of the pre requisites prior to starting their project. The project is to collect and fill a backpack for each child.  

Items needed are backpacks, pencils and pens ( unused and packaged), colored pencils, crayons and markers, high lighters, folders and binders, book covers, lined paper and notebooks, rulers, glue, index cards, scissors, pencil cases and books for ages 6 to 18. 

All donations can be dropped off by July 10th at the children's room at the Northboro Freel Library, at 14 Kendall Drive in Northboro or with Judy Wilchynski at 1 Birch Road, Westborough.  

The community support is greatly appreciated in helping to fill the back packs.For further information please call 508-393-8871

GIRL SCOUT COMMUNITY FOOD DRIVE A SUCCESS

The Westborough Girl Scouts held a very successful food drive resulting in one thousand three hundred fifty two pounds of food donated to the Westborough Food Pantry.Community members dropped off items during the day, and in the evening girls brought donations as part of their annual Girl Scout dance.

In addition, three hundred forty five dollars in donations and grocery gift cards were accepted that day. Members of troop 30629, 30633 and 30859 organized the food drive, make fliers and posters for the day. After the food donations were collected the girls sorted the products and checked for expiration dates on all items. The donations are a welcome addition to the food pantry at this time of year. Many of the holiday donations are getting depleted. On an average of one hundred bags of groceries each week is distributed to families in town. In addition, other organizations have held food drives to help keep the shelves stocked. Food donations are accepted year round at the Westborough fire station. Westborough Girl Scouts has over 325 girl members and 148 adult members in twenty nine troops. For more information on Girl Scouts call Judy at 508-870-1895.

GIRLS SCOUTS SPONSOR FOURTH ANNUAL COMMUNITY FOOD DRIVE 

The Westborough Girl Scouts are proud to sponsor the fourth annual community food drive on April 10.  All donations will be given to the Westborough Food Pantry. Over the past month an average of seventy families are served with an average of one hundred bags of groceries distributed each week.  The spring food drive has been a great success since its inception in filling shelves that are low on food and toiletries.

The food drive is being coordinated by troops 30859, 30633 and 30629 and will be held at the Tufts Machine lot on 55 East Main Street.  Food donations, gift cards to Stop and Shop and Roche Brothers will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. A collection bin will be available from April 4-9 at the Westborough town clerk's office.

•  Suggested items for donations are cereal, crackers, paper towels, jelly, 8 oz. mustard, clam chowder, 32 oz. mayonnaise, bottles and cans of juice, Stop and Shop or Roche Brothers gift cards. Check donations may be made payable to the Westborough Food Pantry.
• Please  do not donate out of date, rusty, badly dented or opened products. They cannot be distributed. 

February 22 is World Thinking Day.

Every year on this day, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides devote themselves to thinking of one another with love and friendship. The theme for Thinking Day this year is, "Together we can end extreme poverty and hunger." The recent tragic events in Haiti can clearly serve as a way to educate our girls about the issues of poverty and hunger throughout the world and how acts of kindness can make such a positive difference.     

Westborough Girl Scouts invites the community and Girl Scouts of all ages to their Thinking Day event on Sunday, February 21st.  It will run from 2-4 at the St. Luke's Parish Center, third floor.  Troops will have information and poster displays on the various World Centers, countries in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, various Girl Guide programs from other countries, opening ceremony and much more.    

In celebration of World Thinking Day, donations are being accepted at the event for the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund (JLWFF) and the Westborough Food Pantry.  A portion of the funds raised by the JLWFF this year will go to Haiti disaster relief. The purpose of the Fund is to extend Girl Scouting and Girl Guiding to girls around the world and to support international friendship through service, training events, and exchange visits.    

Westborough Girl Scout troop 30516 is hosting the event. The troop members have been hard at work planning since last fall.  The leaders are Sharon Collins and Marilyn Lyle. For information on this event or Westborough Girl Scouts call Judy at 508-870-1895.

Girl Scout cash and carry cookie sales for Westborough will continue over the next few weekends.  Cookies may be bought on Friday, January 29 at the Stop and Shop Lyman Street from 3-6 p.m.  

On Saturday January 30 from 9-4 at Roche Brothers,8-12  at Stop and Shop Lyman St, 9-5 at  Lowe's, 10-12 at the Willows, and 12-2pm at Stein Mart in Bay State Commons.

On Sunday, January 31 Girl Scouts will be selling from  12-4 at Roche Brothers, 9-5 at Stop and Shop Lyman St, 12-4 at Stop and Shop Otis St, 10-4 at Lowes, 12-5 at the Mass Pike service center.

Also, on Tuesday February 2 at Stop and Shop Lyman St from 12-3 p.m.

The baker this year is Little Brownie Baker and there are eight varieties. All boxes sell for three dollars and fifty cents. The troops are also participating in a service project during the sale. Customers may donate money or purchase boxes of cookies to be delivered to the recipients of Westborough Meals on Wheels, home bound senior citizens and to the military personnel through the Blue Star Mothers of Massachusetts.For information please call Judy at 508-870-1895.

Westborough Girl Scout troops 30629 and 30859 recently held an investiture for new members of their troop.  The troops meet together and members are in grades four to six.  New members received their Girl Scout membership pin.  The returning girls participated in the ceremony by rededicating themselves to the Promise and Laws of the organization. The troop recently attended a swimming lesson program and are conducting their cookie sales now.For information on Westborough Girl Scouts call Judy at 508-870-1895.