I always love getting emails or hearing stories of how children are giving back this holiday season. I love sharing stories of how children are giving back to Dolls for Daughters® and Toys for Boys®. Here is a story about a group of Daisy Girl Scouts who gave back this holiday season. It brings tears to my eyes every time I read it.
In the words of Kristi Tillman, their troop leader.
When I approached my troop with the idea I have to admit I was a little unsure how the idea would go over, my troop is made of 22, 5 and 6 year old little girls… for allot of them this was the first time they have taken part in a toy drive. I explained it to them by sharing the story of the Dolls for Daughters® organization (which I read about on the website link you had included) then I explained and tried to teach the concept of selfless giving… I asked the girls and their parents to let the girls pick out the toys… I wanted them to really pick out something that they would enjoy getting for Christmas if there moms and dads needed help and couldn’t get them more. The hardest hurdle I had to face was asking them to get boy toys also… leave it to 5 and 6 year olds thou… the answer I got back when I asked them to get toys for boys was “I guess boys need toys too, but we don’t have to like them , right??”
I cant express my joy the following week when my girls all brought toys with them to the meeting… the parents in my troop couldn’t stop telling me stories about shopping with them… one mom of sister daisies told me that this was the first time EVER that she had taken the girls to Wal-Mart and turned them loose in the toy dept… she was amazed at what they picked (ballet Barbie’s)… because the girls were babbling none stop about GIVING the Barbie’s to other little girls… NOT whining because they weren’t getting to pick anything for themselves. Watching my girls putting the toys in the box and wanting to see what each other had brought to give away was a true blessing for me… The excitement and pure spirit of giving shone so brightly in them, I hope that this is something that they will remember for the rest of there lives as something they learned in girl scouts.
All of my girls learned the spirit of giving by taking part in this… I couldn’t be prouder of any of them!
What an amazing story about giving back to others this holiday season. If this does not inspire you then I am not sure what could! Thank you Daisy Girl Scout Troop 3250!
Pictured are some of the girls from Troop 3250 this past Halloween.
