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Benevolent Brownies ready for next step
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The girls in Brownie Troop 4271 donated goody bags filled with food and toys on Thursday to the Turlock Animal Shelter, marking their last project as Brownies.

Eight Girl Scouts’ journey as Brownies over the last two years came to a close on Thursday with a trip to the Turlock Animal Shelter to deliver goody bags to those who adopt animals at the shelter—officially completing their last endeavor as Brownies.

 

“You really do make an impact on our community,” said Turlock Animal Shelter supervisor Glena Jackson to the girls on Thursday.

 

According to troop co-leader Jennifer Skonovd, this activity applied to the “Brownie Quest” journey book, which encourages the girls to learn how to be a leader through discovering, connecting and taking action.

 

“Our main project for this journey was to support those who adopt animals from the shelter and provide a loving home for animals who need it,” said Skonovd. “These bags included a thank you from each girl, food, toys, and basic needs for a new pet.”

 

Over the past two years, the girls have also hosted a food drive for school age kids who don’t have access to regular meals outside of school and visited Paramount Court to hand out homemade Christmas cards and sing carols during the holiday season.

 

“The residents of this retirement community love to see the girls and received their thoughtfulness during the holiday season,” said Skonovd.

 

Along with other troops in the Three Rivers Service Unit 675, the girls participated in an Easter goody bag project, where they donated small toys sand candy-filled Easter eggs. The bags were then donated to Daily Bread, which in turn distributed the bags to the children of those who get a free meal.

 

“These are families who are in need and children who would otherwise not receive anything for the Easter holiday,” said Skonovd.

 

In addition to completing their “Brownie Quest” journey book, the girls also finished the “World of Girls” journey book with a book drive earlier this month.

 

“This particular journey book taught us about girls all over the world and how they are able to make changes in their community based on ‘clues,’” explained Skonovd. “Our ‘clue’ was that there is always a need for children’s books at our Turlock Library.”

 

To complete this journey, each Brownie went through their own personal library at home and decided which books they wanted to donate to the Friends of the Turlock Library.

 

Skonovd reported that the girls were able to donate approximately 200 books from their own personal library, as well as the libraries of friends and family. A majority of the books donated were children’s books.

 

“The book drive not only encouraged the girls to give back to their community, but it also gave them a chance to touch another child’s life,” said Skonovd. “The Friends of the Turlock Library is such an integral part of our community’s educational programs that we thought it was a very important program to support.”

 

 

When asked how her time as a Brownie has benefitted her personally, nine-year-old Ella Underwood touched on how her involvement in various projects has empowered her to help others.

 

“Being a Brownie has taught me that you should always help out with community and family,” said Underwood, “and you should always be nice to people.”