by Mike Knaak
editor@thenewsleaders.com
It may be cookie season, but Sartell’s Girl Scout Troop 123 is more focused on blankets and Beanie Babies than Peanut Butter Patties.
The girls are making fleece blankets and collecting Beanie Babies to send along with a Sartell area medical team headed to Guatemala next month.
On a recent Thursday night, the girls gathered around a table at the Community Center, carefully cutting the material for fleece blankets. The goal: 25 blankets to be used to comfort adults and children after surgery or other medical procedures. The troop is buying 25 more blankets to donate.
Blankets for younger patients are decorated with monkeys, puppies and unicorns while adults will receive more age-appropriate patterns.
“I like that we get to help people,” Ruby Carlson, 11, said.
Mallory Thueringer, says making a blanket takes her about half an hour. “I take a lot of breaks,” the 11-year-old said.
Ruby’s older sister, Ava, would like to join the team and see the treatments, which include burns and clef palates. The girls’ grandmother told them about the trip after she saw a presentation at church.
“I’m adopted from Guatemala, so it’s neat to do something to help people from Guatemala,” Ava said.
The Beanie Babies are being collected in a box in the Community Center lobby and donations are appreciated. The troop hopes to collect 100.
“After kids get surgery, they need something to snuggle or hug. Something to distract them when they are going in,” Ava said.
The girls are also buying coloring books and Crayons and assembling them to give to children while they are waiting for their parents to be treated.
The other troop members are Kelsey Kinville and Jenna Navratil. The girls are students at Sartell High School and Sartell Middle School.
Cookies are still on the troop’s agenda. They have a series of sales planned, including Feb. 23, March 8 and 15 from 1-8 p.m. at Parkwood Cinema in Waite Park
Girl Scout members work together to make blankets Feb. 6 at the Sartell Community Center. They are (left to right) Mallory Thueringer, 11, of Rice; Jenna Navratil, 11, of Sartell; Janel Bitzan, of Sartell; Ruby Carlson, 11, of Rice and Kelsey Kinville, 14, of Sartell. Bitzan is one of the troop leaders.
Mallory Thueringer, 11, of Rice, cuts around the edges of a colorful piece of fleece Feb. 6 at the Sartell Community Center.
Ruby Carlson, 11, of Rice, (left) ties fabric edges together after Jenna Navratil, 11, of Sartell, cuts them Feb. 6 at the Sartell Community Center.