We’re getting closer every day to reaching River Valleys’ Feed the Need food drive goal. Our goal is 20,000 pounds of food donated to food shelves across the council by May 31. Are you ready to take on the challenge?

Last month fifteen Girl Scouts from the Delano-Loretta Service Unit took action, collected and donated 2,180 pounds of food to a local food shelf, giving our food drive a boost and helping those in need. They went door-to-door in their community and handed out bags donated by Cub Foods and Coborn’s. People had the option to fill the bags with non-perishable food items on the spot, or they could fill it at another time and leave it on the front steps to be collected later. 

The girls planned ahead and posted their food collection activity in the local paper so that people would be expecting them. They partnered with Boy Scout troops in the area to distribute the bags and collect the donations. Using ten to twelve SUVs and vans, it took about two hours to collect 2,180 pounds of food. That’s 1,817 meals for Minnesota children in need. 

The food was delivered to Delano Helping Hands Food Shelf, where the girls enjoyed a tour and learned how the food shelf operates. According to food shelf staff, the donation is the single largest food donation they’ve had this year. 

To reach our Feed the Need goal by May 31, we need your help. There’s still time to get out there and see how much food you can collect in your school, your church or neighborhood. Can your troop or service unit top the Delano-Loretto Girl Scouts’ donation? Don’t forget to track your donations so your troop is entered into the Chloe and Halle Bailey Prize Package drawing!

More than 150 volunteers put in 900 hours during the weekend to transform camp buildings into classrooms, creating Panther Camp. Student campers even have 1700 new books to check out following a community book drive to replace books destroyed in the fire.

First day activities included outdoor classes, lots of recess time to explore the camp and a few songs. Parents said that the kids came home excited, exhausted and slightly sunburned.

There are no further plans for the lease to extend beyond mid-June. The property remains for sale, and River Valleys asks volunteers to not visit the camp for safety and privacy reasons.

Emergency Foodshelf Network is looking for assistance during the following times:

• Thursday, May 9, 4:30–6:30 pm (10–20 girls/adults)
• Saturday, May 11, 9:30–11:30 am (10–25 girls/adults)

Due to safety regulations at the warehouse, this opportunity is available for girls age 12 and up.

Where: Emergency Foodshelf Network warehouse, 8501 54 Ave N., New Hope, MN

If your troop or group of girls is interested, please email River Valleys’ Public Relations by April 22 to confirm attendance and receive further instructions.

The girls broke off into classrooms throughout the college to listen to presentations by professional Latina women who work in different career fields. In one of the classrooms, Kristy Quiñones from Best Buy led a group of 30 girls on the importance of managing personal finances.

Quiñones’ main focus was budgeting, and the plan that she instilled in the girls was to earn, give, save and spend. Girls learned about rationing their savings and dedicating certain amounts to short-term, mid-term and long-term savings along with unexpected purchases.

The girls received information about checking accounts and maintaining a budget balance sheet. While most of the girls entered the room knowing what a budget was, they all left knowing the importance of giving and proper spending within a budget.

To wrap up the conference, the girls enjoyed lunch while hearing from Fox 9 reporter, Iris Perez.

Learn more about robotics as a career launching pad in the Chanhassen Villager’s article.

During River Valleys’ 100th year celebration in 2012,100 local women were honored for their dedication to serving girls and supporting Girl Scouts. Of those honorees, 15 African American women were honored. Learn more about each honoree.

Community Champion Honorees

• Willetha ‘Toni’ Carter
• Roxanne Marie Givens
• Pearl Mitchell-Jackson
• Wenda Weekes Moore
• Rena Moran

Forever Green Honorees

• Dorothea J. Burns
• Carolyn Sandberg, J.D.

Guide Honorees

• Gloria Lewis
• Deborah L. Montgomery
• Kimberly Foster Price, J.D.
• Kimberly Vappie, J.D.

Trailblazer Honorees

• Honorable Pamela G. Alexander
• Sharon Sayles Belton
• Robyne Robinson

Women of Promise Honoree

• Jasmine Brett Stringer

Help Girl Scouts Celebrate Our Tradition of Giving Back

The Buy 12 Give 12 promotion is back by popular demand. For each customer who purchases 12 packages of cookies between February 25–March 17, River Valleys will donate 12 packages of cookies to Second Harvest Heartland food shelf network.

Win a Troop Camp Experience!

For every customer who buys 12 packages during the promotion, your troop will earn one entry to win a troop camp experience.

• Each customer’s purchase must be included on a Buy 12 Give 12 form and then submitted to Product Program by March 22.
• If a customer purchases 24 packages, it will count as two entries.
• Only one troop will win.
• Maximum value of $1500.

The more customers your troop has participate in Buy 12 Give 12, the better your chance of winning!

How it Works

• Buy 12 Get 12 Instruction Sheet – guides troops and volunteers through the promotion.
• Buy 12 Get 12 Donation Form
• Buy 12 Get 12 flier/poster

See how Chaska, Carver and Victoria Girl Scout troops 15435, 16550, 15988, 15044 and 16551 also remembered the children of Sandy Hook.

To complete 100 acts of kindness, the girls used their resources to inform the community and other Girl Scouts about the project and encouraged everyone to contribute. They created posters to display in local businesses, started a website for people to post their acts of kindness and created a commercial that has played on the local community access channel.

The girls have been dedicated throughout the project, which has involved many detailed steps and required them to step outside their comfort zones.

“One of the hardest parts for the girls was working with adults and asking the community for help,” explained troop leader, Laura. “When we first started, the girls were really shy to ask businesses to display the posters, but their confidence and courage has really grown.”

Anyone who completes an act of kindness can post on the website, where it is tracked and added to the total. Each post from a community member is extremely rewarding for the girls and gives them the confidence that they will meet their goal.

Have you completed an act of kindness lately? Visit 100 Acts of Kindness to help Hannah, Mattea and Allyson reach their goal by the end of the year.

Sam, Mikenna, Bronwyn and Breezy teamed up for their Silver Award project and brought new light to kids and family members staying at the Ronald McDonald House by creating activity kits.

The kits contained puzzles, paper crafts, bookmark-making supplies, bean bags, outdoor games, a cup game and library books for kids in grades 1–5. In addition to providing the activity kits, the girls also reached out to their sports teams to request food donations for breakfast bags.

In addition, the girls cooked, served and cleaned up after an entire meal for the families at the Ronald McDonald House.

The overall project required a lot of time, planning and community outreach. “I was able to build confidence when it comes to speaking to people I am unfamiliar with and courage to ask for items needed for our project,” explained Breezy.

The girls also learned the important skills of public speaking, organizing teams and gaining community support while earning their Silver Award, the highest award a Cadette Girl Scout can earn. Mikenna described how building these skills will help her later in life: “I have the confidence to make my own appointments, apply for jobs and handle other responsibilities of becoming an adult.”