Last winter when Girl Scout Troop 365 in Moyock visited the Currituck House, an assisted living facility, they realized visiting the center and helping residents wasn’t the only service the Currituck House needed. While putting a smile on residents’ faces during a holiday craft activity, they noticed two children who were there visiting their grandmother. They were just itching to get into the action. Looking around, members of Troop 365 realized there wasn’t much in the activity room to entertain children visiting, so they began brainstorming ideas to change that.
The troop decided that they would like to build some shelves that they could fill with games, books and DVDs that would not only keep children occupied during visits, but also facilitate more enjoyable interactions across generations. After gaining permission to complete their project from the activities director at the Currituck House, the girls sprang into action. They visited local hardware stores, learning about wood and materials they would need to build shelves. They took multiple trips to the Currituck House to measure the space, keeping in mind that they would need to leave plenty of room for wheelchairs and walkers to get around in the activity room. The troop members ended up designing and building three low, rectangular shelves.
“Talented parents and family members brought their tools to show the girls how to measure, cut, sand, prime and paint,” Brittany Orosco, the leader of Troop 365, said. “The shelves took the girls and the help of their parents every weekend from April until June. Every meeting was a lesson in effort and doing a job well.”
To collect items to stock the shelves, the member of Troop 365 placed boxes in their schools and asked people to donate gently used books, games, puzzles and movies.
On June 16, after the final clear coat on the shelves had dried, the troop moved the shelves from Orosco’s garage to the activity room at the Currituck House. The girls brought in all of the donations they had collected and organized everything to neatly fill the shelves.
“Through the project, the girls learned the value of hard work, networking and community service,” Orosco said.
For their project, the members of Troop 365 earned the Bronze Award, which is the third highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.
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