Girl Scouts Spread Kindness to Senior Citizens
Each fall, Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast hosts a patch program to “Spread Kindness” through a council-wide community service project. This past year, troops and families worked together to show kindness by helping elderly members of their communities.
Senior citizens contribute significantly to our communities by sharing wisdom, experiences, and knowledge, providing mentorship, and fostering intergenerational relationships. They also play a crucial role in volunteer work, civic engagement, and caregiving, enriching community life and supporting various social initiatives.
An easy but meaningful way to brighten the day of a homebound senior is through greetings delivered by Meals on Wheels, and 525 Girl Scouts and their adults did just that! More than 80 troops and nearly 20 Juliettes used their creativity to craft unique cards and small crafts for Meals on Wheels chapters across Hampton Roads to deliver around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Girl Scouts also learned how to share the stories of generations before them through an oral history project facilitated by The New Courant, a non-profit organization publishing youth opinion writing. The reGenerations Project, started by teenager Adele Ryono, explores how perspectives are passed across generations. Girl Scouts attended two workshops led by Adele on how to conduct an interview with a senior in their family or community and edit that interview into a narrative to be shared with others.
Some troops struck out on their own to connect directly with elderly community members right in their own neighborhoods. Troop 204 in Virginia Beach visited Maimonides Health Center and met with seniors in their memory care unit. This multi-level troop helped the residents to do a turkey craft the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Troop 1201 in Williamsburg met with the residents at Brookdale Chambrel Williamsburg five times from October through December. They did many activities together, and even hosted a trick-or-treat event with the residents supplying the candy and the Girl Scouts rotating around the rooms, talking with residents and getting treats. Troop leader Rachel shared, “Over the visits it was really nice to see the residents and Girl Scouts building relationships with each other. I was also quite impressed with the kindness and empathy shown to residents when the task was challenging to them. They really enjoyed helping out a population in our community that they would not have if the Spread Kindness patch was not offered. We are also planning on returning with cookies very soon!”
Want to spread more kindness in your community? Many senior centers and similar communities are always looking for Girl Scouts to volunteer, so don’t hesitate to reach out to those in your neighborhood…and stay tuned to your GSCCC email and Facebook for the next Spread Kindness patch program announcement coming this fall!
