By jeanette m. eng
Staff Writer
DAWNMARIE SANNWALDT Marlboro Girl Scouts fill boxes with quality of life items collected at the Robertsville School that will be shipped to American soldiers serving overseas.
MARLBORO — One woman received an e-mail; nine Girl Scout troops took action; 800 students joined the effort; and thousands of American soldiers will benefit. For two weeks this month, pupils at the Robertsville School teamed up in an effort to collect "quality of life items" for American troops serving overseas.
The project began with a single, determined Girl Scout leader, Cindy Mander-ski, who received an e-mail over the summer from the Marlboro Service Unit of the American Red Cross. The e-mail called on the Marlboro community to "take part in making a difference" by providing American troops with quality of life items such as personal hygiene products, small games, playing cards, candy, batteries, CDs, shampoo and blank greeting cards.
Manderski was so inspired that she proposed the project on Sept. 25 at the first Girl Scout meeting of the year. The inspiration grew as all the girls became very eager to become a part of it, she said.
"They all started raising their hands with ideas to send them this or that," Manderski recalled. "A lot of that compassion is attributed to past projects for the troops in which the girls got a feel for the life they lead and what this would mean to them."
From there, the project took on a spirit of its own. After getting Troop 267, the third-grade girls, involved, word spread quickly. Soon after, the leaders of eight other troops were contacted, engaging all nine troops at the Robertsville School. Manderski took it a step further and contacted Vice Principal Cathy Yorke to get the entire school involved.
"I felt that we were very lucky to be able to have a part in this," Yorke said.
Fliers were sent out to every student in anticipation for the big day.
On Oct. 9, the drive began. Within 75 minutes, two boxes were filled to overflowing with goods, setting the tone for the next two weeks.
"Things have been very upbeat at the school," Manderski said. "The response has been everything wonderful, amazing and positive."
She said parents were especially grateful.
"Everyone says (they) really love the fact that the kids are doing this," the Girl Scout leader said.
On Oct. 23, the members of Troop 267 gathered in the cafeteria after school to sort through all of the items that had been collected. The troop then sent everything to the Red Cross for shipment to soldiers in Afghanistan.
"We hope to get some kind of feedback to see how things are going," Manderski said. "This was a worthwhile project that really pulled Robertsville together. (The children) should be very proud of themselves."