PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Sgt. Jeff Peart (top left) and his wife, Lisa, help Michelle Gavegla, 12, (l-r) and Jenna Postiglione, 12, (top right) both of Girl Scout Troop 646 in Millstone, make cards for troops, while Casey Gregory, 12, (below) of Girl Scout Troop 646 in Millstone signs her handprint on a sign for troops during Make a Difference Day at the Millstone Township Community Center Oct. 28. MILLSTONE – Neighbors should help fellow neighbors every day, but when the good efforts of many are consolidated into one specific day, the results prove farreaching.
The Millstone Township Girl Scouts estimate that the impact of this year’s Make A Difference Day will ultimately touch the lives of approximately 1,550 community members. Make a Difference Day is a national day of helping others that takes place the fourth Saturday in October.
Twenty-seven troops and their leaders – a total of 267 people – participated in the event, which will ultimately benefit soldiers in Iraq, township senior citizens at the Good Samaritan Center in Manalapan and the Epiphany House in Asbury Park, and patients at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township and the Golden Living Center of Blue Ridge Mountain East Nursing Home in Harrisburg, Pa., among other individuals.
The Scouts collected 414 prizes for township seniors’ bingo games and decorated the bags that held the prizes. They collected 664 donations of food and toiletries to give to the Good Samaritan Center, as well as 455 donations of food goods to distribute to those in need in Millstone Township.
For Epiphany House, which is a recovery house for chemically dependent women with children who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the Scouts collected 2,463 items including coloring books, crayons, strollers, baby items, and women’s health and beauty aids.
A company of 15 men stationed in Iraq will receive 288 pairs of socks and 85 other foot-care products as a result of the Scouts’ efforts. The Scouts also sent snacks and cards to soldiers at the McGuire Air Force Base in Wrightstown and will be sending cards to two female Marines in Iraq to be distributed among the troops stationed there.
Senior citizens at the local hospital and those residing at the nursing home in Pennsylvania can look forward to receiving 183 hearts with messages of comfort and cheer from the Scouts.
In addition, the troops collected money by doing extra chores for relatives and friends that they used to purchase craft items to make 104 supply kits for schoolchildren who need them. Eight of the Scouts also helped organize a blood drive that collected 17 pints of blood, and all of the troops worked on a community cleanup project.
Sally Maloney, co-chair of Make A Difference Day for the Millstone Township Girl Scout Service Unit, said, “Our hopes in running an event such as this reiterate the words of our Girl Scout Promise – to help people at all times – and from our Girl Scout Law – to make the world a better place.”