“On my honor, I will try:  To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law”

Georgia Lutz, Shea Griffith and Lauren Robey, eighth-graders and members of Georgia Girl Scout Troop 14522, acted on that promise by holding a swim-a-thon to raise $1,500 in support of families staying at the Atlanta Ronald McDonald Houses, and collecting items on our weekly Wish List.

“Shea and Georgia are on the Wavemakers swim team and worked with their coach, Julia Ferris, to host a swim-a-thon,” says Kathryn Griffith, Shea’s mom and co-Troop leader. “The swimmers went out and got donations for how many laps they could swim in an hour.”

Kendall Betzer, baked cookies and had people donate foods for a concession stand at the swim-a-thon. Deb Robey co-leads the Troop with Kathryn.

The girls are working on their Silver Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. The Silver Award takes participants through a seven-step process: identify an issue, build a Girl Scout Silver Award team, explore the community needs, choose a project, develop the project, make a plan, and put it into motion. The Silver Award project takes a minimum of 50 hours to complete.

The Troop has prepared dinner at the House near Scottish Rite and collected pop tabs for our families, Kathryn says, adding the connection to the Ronald McDonald House Charities’ mission is strong.

“One member of the Troop has a close friend who lived at the Ronald McDonald House for six months in Pittsburg,” Kathryn says. “Shea, my daughter, also has to travel to Alabama to see a specialist so she understands how difficult it can be to have medical procedures away from home.”