April Showers ...

... does more than just bring May flowers, it provides support for families in need.

Last weekend, local Girl Scouts stood outside of Wal-Mart collecting donations for their "April Showers" personal care item drive.  They also went door to door passing out empty bags to be filled with donations.  On Saturday, April 28 they went back out collecting those bags.  I tagged along with troop number 4596 as they collected and turned in their donations.

The girls worked very hard going door to door, checking for bags filled with items such as bath tissue, toothpaste, diapers etc.  They were very excited to see all of the items that were donated!

The adults had a chance to teach a valuable life lesson to the girls while they were working.  The girls wondered who the items were for and why they needed them.  We talked to them about caring for families that are in need, and I could tell that they understood.

After all of their bags were collected the next step was to mark out the barcodes and sort them into piles of like items. 

Then they counted each individual item and boxed or bagged them up to be delivered to the Union Food Pantry.  Troop 4596 collected 2,365 items and earned 2 hours of community service for each girl.

When we arrived at the food pantry, volunteers were hard at work placing items on shelves and in boxes.  Their faces were lit with joy over all of the items that the Girl Scouts had collected!

We stayed and helped put items away for a little while.  It was so wonderful working beside the dedicated volunteers!  They have such a heart for our community!

In all, the Union area Girl Scout troops collected over 16,000 items that will be used to help people in our community.  It will be a little while before national totals are tallied, but if one small town collected over 16,000 items ... you can just imagine the impact that a nation of small towns and large cities can make!

Way to go girls!  We are proud of your hard work and your dedication to serving your community!

Gussie Schmitz

Where in Union? {April 27}

Where in Union did I find this?

Please comment with the exact location, including street/streets, buildings, any identifying landmarks, and even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins a surprise. You may comment on this blog post or on the Facebook picture.

Photo by Marcink Designs.

Where in Union? {April 20}

Since the hitching post was a pretty difficult game to begin with, here is a Where in Union that should be a little easier. I was on a Sunday evening walk in downtown Union when I came across this gorgeous reflection. Where is it?

Please comment with the exact street/streets, building, any identifying landmarks, or even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins a prize package from this week's sponsor, MK Designs Photography Fine Art and Portrait. You may comment on this post or on the Facebook post.

Photo by Marcink Designs

Kids Caring for the Community

Local Girl Scout's Daisy troop #4596 did more than have a play date at the park Tuesday night, they were there to work!  The girls showed how much they care about their community by planting two red bud trees at the main city park.

They were all smiles as they got to each take turns shoveling dirt onto the trees and then watering them.

These first grade girls were very proud to know that they would always have a reminder of how they helped to make their park more beautiful.

Planting the trees was fun, but they weren't done yet!  After donning their blue gloves, they ran around the park picking up litter.

They were very excited every time that they found a cigarette, soda can, plastic wrapper or other piece of trash.  When they were finished, they had filled a large sized trash bag!

"Look how much we found!"  Each girl was very proud of what they had accomplished.  While wrapping up the work day, many of the girls were talking about how they were so happy that they could make the park a healthier and safer place to play!

These girls are the future of our community and are trying to do their part to take care of and protect it.  Way to go girls!!


Gussie Schmitz