Fifth grade Girl Scout Troop 2432 were awarded their Bronze Award at Girl Scout Sunday at St. Thomas Aquinas on March 4. All 33 girls, most of whom have been a troop at STA since kindergarten, spent a minimum of 20 hours working on a three-part project to benefit David’s Place Head Start School in Fair Park. The troop broke into teams headed by volunteer leaders Mary Beth Bland, Virginia Braden and Cathy Ranspot. Utilizing a variety of skills, the scouts organized a book drive, built benches for the school library, and sewed floor cushions and nap blankets, which they delivered to David’s Place on December 7, 2011.

Giving each child at David’s Place a new book wrapped for Christmas was one goal of the book drive team. They succeeded not only in collecting enough books for individual gifts, but were also able to donate an additional 600 books to the school classroom libraries. The girls held book drives at the STAMA Halloween Carnival, a multiple person skating party, and held a general book drive at the church. With more than 600 books to sort, in addition to choosing and wrapping special books for each child at David’s Place, these girls were busy!

The second team needed expertise in the area of woodworking, which they received from John Beasley, the grandfather of Girl Scout Sammy Ramirez, and Ron Rhodes grandfather of Ellen Daly. These wonderful gentlemen met the girls at the lumberyard where they taught them about wood grains and measuring/buying wood products.

The girls used math skills to determine which type of wood they could purchase within their budget. Beasley prepped the wood and then the girls came together to sand, assemble and paint the benches. The colorful benches were donated to the school library, giving students a place to sit and read their many new books.

Besides books and benches, David’s Place students had a need for nap blankets and seat cushions for use in the library. The third group of Troop 2432 honed their sewing skills to create 12 floor cushions and 28 fleece blankets. Under the guidance of moms, aunts and grandmothers, the girls cut material, used sewing machines, and brought together a soft, warm gift for the youngest children at David’s Place.

Completion of the Bronze Award by troop 2432 could not have occurred without the generosity of not only the Girl Scouts, giving of their time and talents, but also the STA community and extended families. On December 7, the girls delivered books, benches, seat cushions and blankets. They saw the gratitude in the face of Ms. Daniels, director of David’s Place, teachers, parents, and most importantly, each child as they received their book festively wrapped in Christmas paper.

Congratulations to all the girls of Troop 2432, and the many other friends of troop 2432 that made this project possible.