It was another wonderful experience working with Brownies! We were invited to participate in a Brownie troop to share our experiences with communtiy service and some of the activities we have done to help with the environment. The girls were a great audience and asked some great questions. It was great to see that they have some of the same goals we do and that they are working on 100 Good Deeds while we are trying to do 1000 hours of community service . After our presentation, we assisted the girls in making Terreariums to show how the water cycle worked. They really enjoyed this activitiy and were quite proud of them too!. Afterwards, we joined them for their snack and then it was over before we knew it!  It was a fun night!

    Over February vacation three of us (Taylor, Rachel and Lindsay) were able to go to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank in Lowell and made 150 food kits to be distributed to children in schools. It was our first time going to the food bank so before we went to work assembling the bags of food we took a tour around the building and learned about where the food comes from, where it goes, and who can benefit. Understanding how the food bank works helped put in perspective the significance of helping donate non-perishable items to help they're pantry supply because the food they distribute helps thousands of people in our local community. Our task was to fill 150 plastic bags with 1 milk, 1 juice box, 1 tuna skillets, 1 can of tuna, 1 can of soup, 1 apple sauce, 1 fruit cup, 2 boxes of cereal, and 2 fiber one bars which would then be distributed to children in schools of Lowell. It was actually a lot of fun because we brought an ipod and speaker and blasted our favorite country music and formed system to fill all the bags! Rachel stocked the table with the food that needed to go into the bags and Taylor and Lindsay went around the table filling each bag. We were able to hang out and listen to music and help feed people at the same time! After there were tons of empty boxes and plastic that the food had came in and we sorted through it all and cleaned up. We would love to go back sometime and help with another project!

    Today was an interesting day, we finally got to help out at the Empty Bowls Fundraiser.(This event seeks to raise awareness of the growing need for support of local food pantries. Sponsors of this event encourage guests to take bowls home with them as a reminder of the need to fill empty bowls.)         We first arrived and were shown the bowl room. It had over 300 bowls beautifully hand painted by caring people. Local girl scout troops, boy scouts, and even a group of 6th grade students from a local school donated their time and painted bowls with creative sayings and beautiful designs. The doors opened to the public at around 12. Hungry people poured in, holding more than one bowl. If  you bought a bowl and were getting soup you paid twenty dollars. If you were just getting soup then you got a yellow ticket and only paid 10 dollars. Children got a green ticket and got in for only 5 dollars. Amazingly, within one hour three tables that were once filled with bowls were now empty and only one table remained. Since we were in charge of giving people raffle tickets I was able to see who chose which bowls. I was thrilled to see  a very nice lady chose my handcrafted bowl! .(Its weird to think that people are going to use the things that i made in their own home) All the people that bought bowls seemed so impressed with  their uniqueness and creative designs. In the end it, was a huge success and we heard the soups were delicious!. They were donated from different companies and culinary schools from all around Massachusetts! What a team effort!

    Tonight Taylor and Amy delivered about 10 left over Christmas gifts from the Veteran's dinner to other Veterans living in town. We contacted the housing authority who gave us the addresses of several men living in town and we were able to ring their door bells and surprise them with a Christmas gift! Wearing our elf hats and having Christmas gifts was quite a surprise that all of the men appreciated. We were able to visit the same men that we visited last year and it was nice to see them again and have some of them remember who we were. We still have several more gifts left over and as for the rest of them we are going tomorrow to bring them to a shelter in Nashua to offer some gifts to the homeless who go to the shelter for support.

    Tonight Four Friends went to a school in Lowell and were elves of a reading and experience of The Polar Express. Children and parents attended the evening event dressed in pajamas and ready to board to "Polar Express" which was an area of black chairs. The students received golden tickets and had them hole-punched by the "conductor" just as in the book and movie. Then the kids listened to someone read them the book the Polar Express. After that they all went to the cafeteria where we helped hand out Hot Chocolate and Charleston Chews. We also went around and put every child's name in a hat to raffle off a basket that we donated that contained a copy of the book and sound track of the polar express along with hot chocolate, candy and cookies. Santa was there and pulled the winning ticket! We all had a lot of fun pretending to be Santa's elves and stirring hot chocolate!

    This was our second year helping both serve the Veterans their December Christmas dinner and spread some Christmas Cheer! We were able to collect and assemble about 80 Christmas gifts through donations and hand them out to all of the Veterans that attended the monthly dinner. The gift contained a winter hat or socks, chap stick, gum, cookies or crackers, a scratch ticket and some candy! We would not have been able to make them without the generous donations of those from Trinity, we very much appreciate their support!! We all decorated the American Legion the night before with streamers, red table clothes, holiday napkins, a Christmas tree, and hanging snowflakes. We were also able to have two local musicians volunteer their time to come play and sing Christmas tunes to add to the holiday spirit! This year not only did we hand out gifts, but we raffled off several gifts such as Christmas cookies, leather shaving kits, and leather wallets. Taylor was the only one who was able to attend the serving of the meal, but the other girls were all there in spirit, and were a huge part in assembling the gifts and decorating the dining hall. We want to give a special thanks to the staff at the Legion who gave each of us roses for our volunteering. The men were so appreciative and happy to win the raffles and receive a gift, their reactions and appreciation are what make the experience so special. One older gentleman asked if he could give me a "Christmas hug" after I gave him his gift....now who would pass off that offer?! The Veterans Christmas dinner is a great way to begin December and the season of giving! Merry Christmas!