Tabernacle’s Girl Scouts are creating Cinderella moments for people around the world.
Brownie Troop 20137 collected about 30 pounds of used shoes from the community that will be recycled into new sneakers for people in need.
The three bags of shoes collected will be sent to Got Sneakers?, a shoe recycling organization that will use materials from the used shoes to create new ones or playground and track surfaces.
“You might not always see need in your own community, but it’s there,” said co-troop leader Kristin Phillippi. “But when you can teach girls with something like this, like, “Hey, these shoes are for someone that doesn’t have them that might need them,” it helps tie a link to that.”
The troop collected shoes via socially distanced dropoff boxes in front of the Tabernacle Elementary and Kenneth R. Olsen Middle schools, advertising mostly by word of mouth and school newsletters.
Troop 20137’s donation won’t only support global low-income communities. The Scouts can receive up to $3 in fundraising money for each pair of shoes that they will use to send third graders to enrichment activities, like Girl Scout camp in the spring.
Girl Scouts across the country have struggled to fundraise and learn as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps them from attending normal meetings and events. Troop 20137 has been able to move forward by getting “creative on Zoom,” said co-leader Leah Haas.
“We pool our resources,” Haas explained. “I was a Girl Scout, so it’s important to me to give them the experience that I had growing up.”
Since March, the Tabernacle troop has been focused on charity work. They wrote letters to health care workers and shopped for holiday presents to donate to a less fortunate 8-year-old girl.
“I want to raise them to be good people,” Haas said of her troop. “It’s not just about receiving, it’s about giving and helping the community.”
Many of the girls said they enjoy helping others. One Scout has continued to write letters to her family and friends.
Later this year, Troop 20137 will “bridge,” moving up in Girl Scout ranks to become Juniors. Before then, they’ll go on a Girl Scout “Journey,” where they will identify a problem in the community they want to fix and put a plan into action to solve it.
“I think it’s important to, just as a value, to teach kids to give back,” Phillippi said.
