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March 09, 2010 Suburban Journals By Jamie Quagliata |
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Girl Scouts donate to Wentzville Crisis Nursery
Cadet Girl Scout Troop 1442 hosted a trivia night in February and used the proceeds to buy items for Crisis Nursery.
Thirteen Girl Scouts, sixty-six pairs of socks, nine boxes of diapers and one high-definition television later, the Wentzville Crisis Nursery is one donation load richer.
Cadet Girl Scout Troop 1442, with girls ages 10-14 from the St. Peters and O'Fallon areas, donated a heap of items to the Wentzville Crisis Nursery on March 3.
The girls raised the money for the items with a trivia night Feb. 6 at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in O'Fallon. About 90 people attended, and entry was $10 or a donation of an item for the nursery.
"The girls ran the whole thing. They came up with the questions," troop leader Carol Stevens said.
They wound up raising $956, which they used to buy items for the nursery.
St. Louis Crisis Nursery is a nonprofit agency that provides a short-term, safe haven for children, birth through age 12, whose families are faced with an emergency or crisis. Crisis Nursery has locations in St. Charles and Wentzville, and aims to prevent child abuse and neglect. The St. Charles location will share in some of the donations. The Wentzville Crisis Nursery serves families in St. Charles, Warren and Lincoln counties.
The troop chose the nursery to benefit because of its service to children and families.
"I think sometimes people forget life gets hard," Carol said. "We just wanted to give back."
The girls of Troop 1442 earned their Silver Award with the trivia night/donation project. To earn a Silver Award, a Cadet troop must put 30 hours of community service toward a project. "There's a lot of work behind this," Carol said.
Girl Scout Nicole Brown, who is in eighth grade, worked the trivia night. She helped provide child care at the event, and said she would work on another donation project in a heartbeat. "Oh yeah, I'd do it again," she said.
That eagerness to help is what MaryPat Smith, volunteer coordinator with Crisis Nursery, likes to see. She met with the Girl Scouts in the fall to explain the nursery's mission.
The girls visited the nursery and met some of the kids there, "so they can see where the donation goes and see how it affects the kids," MaryPat said.
Mary Kay Kreider, program coordinator, said the nursery staff and children would put the donated items to use the next day.
"It lifts the spirits of the staff to get this help from the community - especially youth like this," Mary Kay said.
DONATION BREAKDOWN
With the money raised from the trivia night, the Girl Scouts bought: video games, a TV with DVD player, two replacement swings for the swing set, clothes and diapers.
At the trivia night, attendees donated: cleaning supplies, canned goods, finger paints, coloring books, board games, baseball cards and clothes.
How to donate: Mary Kay Kreider, program coordinator for Crisis Nursery, said donations of new or gently used children's clothing sizes 24 months and up, baby food, baby formula and diapers are needed. Call 636-887-3071 or visit www.crisisnurserykids.org for more information.
Suburban Journals ©March 2010
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