Girls Scouts Troop #3073 earn their silver

Jul. 29—GREENSBURG — Earlier this year, members of Girl Scout Troop #3073 earned the coveted Silver Award by tackling projects at the Greensburg and Decatur County Animal Shelter. The Silver Award is the highest a cadet needs on her way to becoming a Girl Scout.

Marina Davis, Allie Schroeder, Addisten Smith, Mickinzi Hollin, Keirsten Bladow and Lilly Ramey, 8th-graders, volunteered at the Shelter and took care of some issues that needed to be addressed there.

"Our shelter was overcrowded because the community wasn't fully aware of how many animals were at the Shelter," was a response for the "It mattered because..." section.

First they decided upon their goals: educate the community, get animals adopted and repair the shed.

Then they rounded up the capital they needed to complete their tasks, documenting every donation and dollar earned on budget sheets.

Each kept a list of the hours they worked talking to people in the community about the numbers of dogs and cats at the shelter. They also counted every minute mopping floors and moving piles of dog food bags.

They listed vendors they solicited for donations or worked with to buy the necessary materials they needed for the project including paint, nails and timber.

All were kept in a log.

They even had to learn to how to manage their time, planning the number of hours they would spend working at home versus hours spent on the Shelter project, and document them.

And it had to be complete (including the paperwork) in a month's time.

"I discovered that I am a strong person and can do things I'd never done before," Kiersten Bladow said about the effort.

"Before this project, I had not experienced manual labor while working or rebuilding a building," Lilly Ramey said.

"I thought I was too young to make a difference in the world, but I realize you're never too young, not smart enough or even too old to make a difference," Alley Schroeder said.

To learn more about Girl Scouts, visit www.girlscoutsindiana.org/

Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email [email protected]