Humane Heroes

Troop 42017 currently featured in Kind News magazine

Washington D.C. (February 12, 2024) – Local Girl Scout Troop 42017 are featured as the Humane Heroes in the January/February issue of Kind News™, a children’s magazine! The magazine is published by RedRover®, a national animal welfare nonprofit based in Sacramento, California.

Last year, five of the fifth graders in the troop decided to use their cookie sales dollars towards helping homeless animals at the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA) shelter.

Together they went to their local PetSmart, and the store was able to offer them a 20% discount on pet supplies to help their dollars go even farther. They stocked up on toys, treats, collars, and leashes. They also bought 300 pounds of dog food for HRA’s pet food pantry and split the food up into individual bags and labeled them (something HRA was really grateful for).

Girl Scout Cassandra said, “For any other kids who want to help animals I would say go for it! You can accomplish so much when you work as a team, but really just feels good to be good to others…and that includes pets!”

Not only did they donate pet food and supplies, they also collected towels for the shelter. They wrote a letter to their school principal asking if they could bring big boxes to the school to collect the towels. The response was overwhelming! The boxes were overflowing with donated towels and other pet supplies. Additionally, the girls and their families made “no-sew” blankets to donate to the shelter to keep the pets comfortable. They also created a special video showcasing their efforts and adoptable pets.

While creating their plan to support their local animal shelter, they also wanted to help their local unhoused population. The troop convened and assembled 200 sandwiches to donate to Martha’s Table!

RedRover Interim President Karly Noel said, “It is so encouraging to learn about all that this troop is doing for both pets and people in need in their area. Hopefully sharing their kind deeds will inspire other youth to think of ways that they can give back to causes that mean the most to them.”

Through these kind gestures they earned the ADOPT patch from HRA and the Girl Scout Bronze Award! This year they are on the path to their Silver award, deciding exactly how they can support pets in need when their cookie sales are complete. Stay tuned for more great things from this troop.

“The Humane Rescue Alliance is always grateful when students complete a project to help the animals, said their Director of Humane Education, Debbie Duel. “Girl Scout Troop 42017 didn’t do just one project, they did them all! They even brought Girl Scout cookies for HRA’s staff to enjoy! Troop 42017 is a small but mighty group of girls who demonstrated a huge commitment to making the world a better place for the animals in their community and for the people who care for them.”

Kind News uses articles and short features to highlight issues affecting animals and provides tips for understanding animal behavior and caring for pets. Each issue features a young Humane Hero, game or activity, MUTTS comic strip, rescue story, and much more.

Do you know a child or youth group who goes above and beyond to show kindness towards animals? Submit a kindness story for a chance for them to be featured on RedRover’s and Kind News’ social media channels and potentially be chosen as a Humane Hero: KindNews.org/shareyourstory.

To learn more about Kind News and view Troop 42017’s feature, visit kindnews.redrover.org/download/.

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