The local chapter of the American Red Cross has received 70 care bags from Rockport Girl Scouts as part of their community service work — with an emergency blankets and other elements of the packages literally made from scratch.
Over the summer, members of Girl Scout Troop 408 — working toward their Bronze award, which recognizes a Junior Girl Scout's leadership and planning benefitting the community — decided they wanted to help the Red Cross.
The girls met with Cynthia Quinn, the emergency services and disaster manager with the American Red Cross of Northeast Massachusetts, to talk about the Comfort Care Kits the agency gives to people in need.
The girls decided they could make the kits more personnel by adding a card and adding a few extras like playing cards, which could be useful if someone is in a shelter during a storm. They also made 12 bags for children in which they put coloring books, reading books, bubbles and a ball.
But the girls also worked on making blankets over the summer. Shelby Gale made seven blankets out of fleece that was donated for the project, while Jessica Collins, Rachel Balestraci and Shannon Lalley also made blankets to be included in the bags.
The girls held a bake sale at the Whistlestop Mall where they sold a variety of items they baked themselves to raise money for their project. They also sought and received donations from a number of local businesses and individual donors. Commercial backers for the project say were able to get donations from Stop & Shop, Shaw's, CVS, Whole Foods and the new Rockport Inn and Suites.
Emily Dailey worked with her uncle to send Band-Aids to add to the kits, while Katie Maddox donated some of her gently used books, and Jamey Ouellette made the cards to put in the bags. The girls also shopped for any items they still needed using the money they had raised from the bake sale.
"The girls were so pleased when they counted 67 bags they were going to donate to the Red Cross," said troop leader Susan Collins.
Maddie Wornoski and her mom recently delivered all the bags to the local relief agency, whose regional chapter is based in Beverly.
Gail McCarthy can be reached at gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com
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