Cultivating a Heart for Service

Nurturing a child’s heart to be mindful of serving the community and protecting our coastal home can never be taught too early.

The Girl Scout organization shares this important value in asking troops to plan at least one annual community service project that is part of their leadership program for girls. This may include protecting a local treasure, working on a habitat restoration project, or serving our community members in need.

Girl Scout Daisy Troop #15015 decided to be involved in multiple service projects this past year, which included participating in the Watsonville Wetlands Watch project on the Pajaro Valley High School campus, holding a beach cleanup at Capitola Beach, touring the county animal shelter and donating animal items, and bringing joy through holiday songs to seniors at the Aegis Assisted Living center in Aptos.

And these seven-year old girls had loads of fun in the process!

In November, these daisies traveled to a lavender farm in Los Gatos where they sifted dried lavender and created lavender sachets as gifts. The girls then joined other central coast troops for caroling at Aegis in December, where they passed out their lavender sachets to senior residents. Smiles and laughter were exchanged on both sides of the age spectrum!

In May, Watsonville Wetlands Watch project invited our troop to work on an environmental restoration project that involved pulling poison hemlock, which chokes off space for native plants that support local wildlife, from around the slough. They then planted three types of native plant seedlings.

These Daisies got a tour of the educational center, where they learned how special plants or trees from other parts of the country can ‘hitchhike’ to the local area. If left untreated, these evasive species can push out local native plant and animal species.

This was connected with the troop’s work on an environmental stewardship-teaching unit. There is nothing like doing a service project, which educates, protects a local treasure, and allows the girls to have fun together!

The girls ended the year with a beach cleanup at Capitola Beach where they picked up trash with gloves and trash bags in hand. They were reminded to not touch any syringes, to be mindful of where they walked, and to never turn your back on the bay for fear of crashing waves!

Girls in Troop #15015 learned about involving themselves in the lives of local residents but also in protecting their coastal home, and seeing how both can have a positive impact on both plants and humans. Our Troop #15015 are now Brownies and ready to start a new year of service in on our local community.

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The Girl Scouts relies on parent volunteers to help guide our daughters in becoming future leaders. If you want to see your daughter involved in similar projects and activities, consider starting a troop if you don’t already belong to one. Contact Girl Scout Central Coast at www.girlscoutsccc.org or 800-822-2427 for more info.