Holiday Gifts Collected Through Trick-or-Treating
Girl Scout Troop 40 gathers diapers and other baby items instead of candy.
Finished with their task at the Center for Great Expectations in Franklin Township: Kimberlee Lizakowski, Emily Pensak, Colleen Pine, troop leader, Allison Pine and Alexandra Mascali. The girls from Senior Girl Scout Troop 40 collected baby items at Halloween instead of candy, which are being given out as holiday gift at the center for unwed moms and their babies.
Kimberlee Lizakowski, Emily Pensak, Colleen Pine, Allison Pine and Alexandra Mascali
Courtesy of Colleen Pine
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Diapers, baby clothes and other donations for babies collected on Halloween by Senior Girl Scout Troop 40 in the township will be presented as holiday gifts for unwed moms and their babies living at the Center for Great Expectations in Franklin Township, according to Troop Leader Colleen Pine.
"All the items raised will help the center create Christmas gifts for the children," Pine said. The center will create gift bags for babies living at the center using such collected donations as baby clothes or crib sets, Pine said earlier in December.
"It really ties Halloween with the holiday," Pine said. She said the girls, 15 and 16 years old, collected items from their neighborhoods in October. In November, they delivered the donations and conducted inventory at the center, she said. The gifts were due to be given out in December, she said.
The Girl Scouts had collected an overflowing carload of diapers, baby wipes, clothing and crib ensembles for the children living at The Center for Great Expectations in the Somerset section of Franklin Township, Pine said last month.
Kimberlee Lizakowski, Alexandra Mascali, Emily Pensak and Allison Pine, all from Girl Scout Troop No. 40, went "trick-or-treating" for baby items this year instead of candy, she said.
"They did much more than simply park and drop, however," according to Pine. Along with the assistance of Sister Sheila Murray from the center, Pine and Betty Epple, troop mentor, the group also stocked and inventoried the center's collection facility just in time for holiday rush.
"It was actually fun collecting from neighbors, and everyone was so generous and supportive of the idea, too," recalls Kimberlee Lizakowski. Emily DaCosta created a seasonal flyer that described the needs at the Center for Great Expectations, and each Girl Scout delivered flyers to an assigned area within their neighborhood.
"The outpouring of donations was incredible," Pine said. "Many neighbors went so far as to congratulate the Scouts on their efforts by attaching personal notes to their donations."
She said Troop 40 always has enjoyed supporting charities dealing with infants and young children. "But this collection far surpassed their own 'great expectations' of what a successful event is all about at the holiday season, she said.
