Two Goshen, Indiana teenagers came up with a great idea to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award. Darcy McDowell and Hallory McBride, both 14, decided to create a food pantry for local pets. As Darcy explained:
“Many people in our area have pets and when they can’t afford to feed them, they either give them up or just abandon them.”
Hoping to keep pets in their loving “forever homes,” the girls worked with the local Goshen Ecumenical Food Pantry, which provides a space for their supplies. They place collection boxes in local churches, hold regular food drives in their neighborhoods, return bottles and cans to collect funds, solicit local pet stores for help, and write to major food companies for donations.
The Scouts are required to demonstrate the idea is sustainable beyond this year, so they are already looking for volunteers to take over the project and keep the pet food pantry going indefinitely. If your community doesn’t have a pet food pantry, maybe Darcy and Hallory will serve as inspiration to start one!