Barbara Kouretsos and Marietta Niamonitakis want people to know that Girl Scouts are about more than selling cookies.
Eleven-year-olds from the Junior Girl Scout Troop 2-169 of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., Barbara and Marietta chose to assemble school and health kits for their Bronze Award community service project.
For two months after the South Asia tsunami, they promoted the activity in their troop and collected donated items from fellow parishioners, family and friends.
“They kept logs and were not shy in asking for support,” said Antonia Kouretsos, Barbara’s mother. “At their Girl Scout meetings, they ran assembly lines to create the kits. The children who participated had a lot of fun and really felt that they were helping the tsunami victims.”
In all, the girls filled three boxes with 68 health kits and four boxes with 56 school kits. “As one of the parents, I am moved by their attitude,” Ms. Kouretsos said. “They do not want to say, ‘We’re done,’ but, ‘How many more can we send.’ ”
Individual items for the kits are still coming in, and on their own, the girls are making lists of items needed to complete whole kits so that more can be sent. “The 15 hours required for their Bronze Award has quickly multiplied,” Ms. Kouretsos said.
In Cleveland, Ohio, a Brownie troop and a Daisy troop also assembled health kits for tsunami survivors. Eva Zunich of Cleveland said the girls, ages 5 to 8, were able to send about 35 kits.
Click here to learn more about assembling school or health kits.
