The Girl Scout motto is "be prepared." Girl Scouts Keeli Adams and Mya Brouse took that message to heart when they worked on a project to earn their Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn. Throughout their project, the girls learned to be prepared for the unexpected, whether it was closures and delays due to the pandemic or facing a snowstorm.
Keeli and Mya are members of Troop 70417. For their project, they planned a drive-through donation collection for Elizabethtown Community Housing & Outreach Services (ECHOS). "There was a need in our town to help the homeless," said troop leader Tracy Adams, who also leads two other troops. "Other Girl Scout families within my three troops helped by donating items, along with (people from) the community." The girls collected personal care and laundry items, including change for washing and drying clothes, and then sorted through the donations to create laundry packets and self-care bags.
"The girls also cooked and delivered three different well-balanced meals to the emergency shelter on three evenings, including one during a snowstorm," Tracy noted.
The girls held the collection at H.U. Coble House in Elizabethtown. "We would like to thank the Elizabethtown and Mount Joy areas for their contributions to the drive and for supporting these two wonderful, caring ladies," Tracy said.
Keeli is the daughter of Brandon and Brianne Adams. She has been a Girl Scout since she was in first grade, and she is currently a seventh grader at Elizabethtown Area Middle School. "My favorite part about the project was helping organize the homeless shelter," she stated. "The hardest part was getting it done because COVID affected this project a lot." In fact, the girls had to file for an extension on their project due to the pandemic.
Mya is the daughter of Dennis and Maria Brouse. She is a seventh-grade student at Donegal Junior High School and has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten. "My favorite parts of the project were making food with my friend and knowing that it's helping people," she said.
Both girls say they love Girl Scouts because they've been able to take trips such as sleeping over in an aquarium, camping on the beach and snow tubing. "I like being able to camp, work on projects with friends and doing and learning things I wouldn't ordinarily do," Mya said. "I want to advance to the highest level of Girl Scouts and earn my Gold Award, which is equivalent to Boy Scouts' Eagle Award. It helps on scholarship and job applications because it shows I can be a motivated, independent leader. And I want to help serve my community's needs."
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