I am so proud of our little Brownie troop. We started out this year on a Girl Scout “Journey,” one that required us to tell our story — and to change the end of someone else’s story, or at least make the story better for them. After going through a series of ideas, everything from book drives to food drives, our girls voted to make Mother’s Day gift bags for the almost-two dozen teenage mothers who live at Albany residences run by Community Maternity Services, an agency of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany.
Our little project grew and grew. The girls made fleece blankets for the babies, they made beaded bracelets for the moms, they made posters and set up a collection playpen at various locations — Elsmere Elementary School, Tri-Village Nursery School, Twist and Flip gymnastics, and Historic St. Mary’s Church in Albany. And the donations came pouring it. On Monday we made 23 gift bags, complete with diapers, shampoo, wipes, outfits, bibs, onesies, socks, blankets, bracelets and more. And we have loads of donations that couldn’t even fit in the bags. It was amazing to see. 
Even if the girls can’t yet fully understand the depth of the struggles and poverty the teens moms face, they do understand that they have been able to make a difference, and that’s a pretty big deal. I’m hoping our girls will remember for years to come that if they put their minds to something and involve the community, they can, in fact, change the story for someone else.
Congratulations, Troop 1308, I am so proud to call myself your co-leader. And thank you to everyone who added to our collection. St. Mary’s in Albany will continue the collection through next weekend, so if you’re in the area and want to help, you’ll find our playpen set up there. And if you’d like to support Community Maternity Services directly, click HERE and find out what you can do. It’s a great organization, helping pregnant teens, teenage moms, and children slipping through the cracks of the foster system.
