Five Girl Scouts were startled by the amount of homeless people they saw as they walked back to their vehicles downtown after an Indianapolis concert.
One homeless man was feeding his dog instead of eating the food himself.
The girls decided they needed to do something that would help the homeless people in their own community.
Girl Scout Troop No. 2694, based at Saints Francis and Clare, researched, designed, built, installed and stocked a Blessing Box at the White River Township Trustee office.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Blessing Boxes are micro food pantries installed in public spaces that are typically the size of a few shelves. The idea is that those who need food can take what they need at any hour and that others can leave what they can in a "take what you need, leave what you can" idea, the girl scouts said.
They box has earned them the Bronze Award through Girl Scouts of Central Indiana. The award is given to troops who plan a project that helps in their community.
Ava Reddick, a sixth grader at Saints Francis and Clare, said that what the girls saw downtown really stuck with the group.
"It was really sad to see them like that," she said.
As a troop, they decided that a project to help homeless people in Johnson County would be the best way forward.
They researched the cost of building a house for the homeless and knew that was not in their budget. Representatives from KIC-IT, a nonprofit organization in Johnson County that helps homeless youth in the county and No Place To Call Home, spoke to the girls about homelessness. They toured KIC-IT’s office and learned who the homeless people were in their community, why they might be homeless, services they could use to help alleviate their lives and how much a person would have to make financially to keep their family off the streets.
Most of the members were surprised when they learned that some of their peers were homeless and that their families struggled, Pam Beck, a Girl Scout leader said.
"There were lots of teens; they were surprised to hear this," she said. "(The girl scouts) asked lots of questions about what the homeless needed."
Their idea to install a Blessing Box was born.
"Some struggles a homeless person has is getting enough money for food," Scarlett Shell, a sixth grader at Saints Francis and Clare, said.
They researched what a Blessing Box was online, compiling and printing photos of their favorites. They asked local hardware stores to donate the lumber. Construction of the box cost about $350, which was most of the money they had earned from asking their friends and families to buy Girl Scout cookies earlier in the year.
Constructing the box meant they had to scale back other activities, such as camping and zip lining. The girls decided to move forward with the box.
"It is giving a gift to the homeless, who do not have those resources," Savannah Beck, a sixth grader at Saints Francis and Clare, said.
They built a model of their box from Duplo Legos, collected the lumber and built and installed the box over the summer and fall together with help from a few family members.
They donated food pantry items, struck up deals with a local church and the trustee’s office to keep it stocked and are now exploring other options, such as stocking the pantry with winter gear or small toys for children.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”At a glance” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Girl Scout Troop No. 2694 built, designed and installed a Blessing Box, at the White River Township Trustee office.
Members of the troop are:
- Savannah Beck
- Lauren Coppinger
- Jade Finch
- Ava Reddick
- Scarlett Shell
The box is located at 2929 S. Morgantown Road, Greenwood. Food items located in the box are free and people are also encouraged to leave donations in the box.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
