Nine young Girl Scouts from Manalapan and Englishtown are donating fruit and vegetables they are growing themselves to an organization that provides food to individuals in need in Manalapan, Englishtown, Marlboro and Millstone Township.
The young ladies from Troop 1008 are working toward earning their Girl Scout Bronze Award.
Fifth-graders Miranda Figueroa, Olivia Sullivan and Myranda Rego, and fourth-graders Caroline Calello, Kate Garrity, Kaitlyn Hardy, Gracie Petner, Madison McCartney and Reilly Gaggin are growing and maintaining a garden.
The food the scouts are growing is being to donated to the Samaritan Center, which is based in Manalapan.
Troop 1008 leader Nanci Radzewick said the girls intend to continue harvesting their fruits and vegetables until the 2017 growing season is complete.
“The volunteers at the Samaritan Center have been extremely grateful for the donations, as they always have a shortage of fresh produce and fruit as donations, and to have a continuous supply over the summer is a wonderful supplement to what they normally offer their clients,” Radzewick said.
The Girl Scouts were honored by the Manalapan Township Committee on Aug. 9 and received certificates of achievement.
The project began in April when the scouts came up with the idea of helping to feed people in need by growing vegetables and donating them, according to Radzewick.
She said the girls reached out to Manalapan officials to ask if there was property they could use for a garden and the township provided a location off Route 33.
The girls then decided which fruits and vegetables to plant, designed the layout of the garden, contacted the Samaritan Center to let the agency know what their intentions were and solicited donations of soil, wood, mesh netting, seedlings, hoses and other supplies.
“We would like to thank the scouts for all they do for us,” said Martha Amato, the executive director of the Samaritan Center. “Two or three times a week they bring in fresh vegetables and herbs. The clients like fresh produce because a lot of them are into healthy food.”
Two of the girls’ moms, Tara Gaggin and Christie Hardy, helped supervise and mentor the scouts, who have completed all of the tasks themselves.
The garden was in place by late May. The scouts learned how to make up a schedule for watering and harvesting the produce. Their donations to the Samaritan Center have consisted of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, string beans, kale, basil, parsley, rosemary and thyme.
“The skills the girls have learned by doing this project will be invaluable as they continue on their journey to adulthood,” Radzewick said. “They have worked as a group to decide on a project, learned record keeping skills, demonstrated a level of maturity and independence, as well as personal responsibility through reaching out to the community for assistance, providing community service through the donation of healthy food and ensuring their garden thrives through a daily check-in and watering.
“This entire project and the tasks involved are invaluable in helping to make them successful should they choose to earn the Girl Scout Silver and Gold awards, as well as being leaders in their school and college communities in the future,” she said.
“I would like to thank Tara Gaggin and Christie Hardy for stepping up to mentor the girls on this project,” Radzewick said. “I felt it was important to have other adults rather than just me, as their leader, guide them.
“I have had most of these girls since they were in the first or second grade and this was the perfect opportunity to receive guidance and leadership from someone else. Tara and Christie should be very proud of the job they have done and how successful these 9- to 11-year-old girls are.
“As their leader, I cannot stress enough how proud I am of each of them. They are a fantastic group of girls and their parents are the best in supporting their daughters, not only in this project, but in all the girls choose to do,” Radzewick said.