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If you saw a trailer of “Big Blue Bins” at the St. Paul’s
Lutheran Church in Mundy’s Corner over the weekend, the
Cadette Girl Scout Troop #40937 was holding a Newspaper
Recycling Drive from 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon on Saturday,
September 12, 2009. You may have also seen flyers and
posters donning our community.
Our Cadette Troop has been working on their
“Eco-Action” Patch by participating in several community
service projects and being exposed to educational programs
on recycling, reducing and reusing. We started the year
with making bird houses and having discussions on what they
and their families could do to be more environmentally
aware. Dan Lovrich and Jennifer Flowers, from the Greater
Johnstown Water Authority came to our meetings and discussed
water conservation and preservation with us. They were
amazed with the knowledge our girls already had on the
subject. Our troop then had to vote on a community service
project that would help our local environment. Knowing how
motivated our girls are in this area, it was no surprise
when they voted to do two projects. In the spring, we
walked and cleaned a portion of the Ghost Town Trail near
the Nanty Glo entrance. We collected approximately eight
bags of trash during that event. They also voted to hold a
Newspaper Recycling Drive. Not only did they want to
recycle newspapers but they wanted to make the community
aware that recycling is good for our earth and that we have
recycling bins located within our own township and
surrounding areas.
With the help of
Dave Hirko, Township Manager, we had flyers made, which the
girls posted at many of the local businesses. They gave the
flyers to everyone they came in contact with - family,
friends, neighbors. The information was posted on the
Jackson Township Website, local church bulletins, in
libraries and newspapers. Information was sent home from
many of our area schools. The troop was very creative in
making posters and getting the word out into the community.
We passed out approximately 450 flyers.
Tim Dull, the Educational Coordinator, with the Cambria
County Solid Waste Authority, helped us to reach our goals.
Over the years, he has worked with our local schools and my
troop, teaching recycling and helping students make good
choices for caring for our environment. As the troop
leader, I talked with him several times on coordinating our
event. He was instrumental in getting Mike Lieb to deliver
recycling bins for our troops use. Not only did we want to
recycle newspapers, but we wanted to get the word out, we
want people to continue to recycle! Tim provided a handout
that the scouts could give to those who brought us
newspapers. This flyer held all the information on what can
be recycled and where the “Blue Bins” are located within our
communities. Because he is so dedicated and believes in
this cause, he made a surprise visit to our event, further
encouraging and motivating our troop to continue “Taking
Care of our World”.
As for the day of the event,
though the sky was overcast and we thought it would rain at
any time, the weather could not have dampened the spirits of
our scout troop. The girls were so excited when they
arrived at the church parking lot and saw that “Big Blue
Bins” were delivered for our project. They checked those
things out from top to bottom. It’s one thing to unload
papers from the cars of your family (they have to support
you and your projects) but when people from throughout our
community started arriving with bags, boxes and trunks full
of newspapers - I think the girls were amazed by the support
that was given to them. They couldn’t wait to unload the
vehicles and pass out the reminder flyers to the drivers.
They were all very friendly and talkative to the
contributors. (I’m sure some contributors were overwhelmed
with the rush of scouts as they parked their cars and opened
their doors - they were met with 4-5 scouts all wanting to
take their donations of papers!)
Because of the involvement of our family, friends, area
businesses and community, we feel our paper drive was a
success. We were able to fill approximately a bin and a
half with newspapers. What a great opportunity for our
scout troop. They have learned about caring for our local
area of the Earth, they had to work together to have a
successful event, they saw that they are not alone out
there, they had the support of their families, friends, area
businesses, and the community and they had a fun time doing
it! We can all do a little something to care for our planet
- by working together, we will succeed! |
