Thursday, February 7, 2019

Kinzie Girl Scouts use hands, hearts to bring warmth to the homeless in winter

By Joan Hadac
Editor and Publisher
Southwest Chicago Post

A number of men, women and children in need are a bit warmer this winter, thanks to the hearts and hands of Kinzie Girl Scout Brownie/Junior Troop 20423.

The girls of the troop--third through fifth graders at Kinzie--made and donated 18 blankets to Almost Home, a Hometown-based non-profit that assists families who are homeless.

Girl Scout mom Janelle Karnas spearheaded the activity. She asked adult leaders about the girls readiness for a service learning project.


The girls' objective was to take action and persevere to being an Agent of Change as they worked on their Girl Scouts Journey Its Your World Change It series of badges. 

Janelle has done this in the past and had a lot of extra material left over from some old projects. She donated all the materials and brought in a few other troop moms in to help the girls with the project.

Girl Scout Gennevieve Ortiz said, "I loved making blankets for the homeless because it was a fun thing to do and it helps others!"

Girl Scout Troop 20423 formed in fall of 2014 when Kinzie moms Elizabeth Ortiz and Michelle Ayala recruited kindergarten and first grade girls to be part of their Daisy troop.

"We started off with nine girls, and our troop has steadily grown over the years," said Michelle Ayala. "Now we have 17!"

The girls have earned many badges and been on many field trips over the past five years; but this is "their most meaningful project to date," Elizabeth Ortiz added.



Troop members pictured are (from left to right): Isabella Patel-Garcia, Jordayn Mayhew, Morgan Seggerson, Gianna Plescia, Sasha Del Raso, Emily Karnas, Quincy Ayala, Gennevieve Ortiz, Danielle Shilling, Evelyn Guzman, Aileen Guzman and Bianca Hernandez.

Well done, girls!
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