Girl Scouts Give Supplies

When Rose Smith went to Trash to Treasure Day at Watkin’s Nature Center in Maryland, she met a woman holding a plastic bottle that had been turned into a child’s toy. While the water bottle toy sparked conversation, Christine Ferguson’s water bottle idea was only the first contribution she would make to Global Playground.

Smith sent the water bottle toy idea to Honduras with U.S. Teaching Fellow Ryan Drysdale, but Ferguson wanted to do more. Ferguson and her Daisy Girl Scout troop collected school supply donations for the children at Global Playground’s schools.

“She wanted to have her girl scouts do something as a troop,” Smith said. “I told her that I was the supply person, and we exchanged contact information.”

             

Ferguson leads a Daisy Girl Scout troop of five kindergarten and first grade girls. She thought her troop might be able to make a donation to Global Playground.

“Rose was telling me about Global Playground when we met, and I thought well my Girl Scout troop can do something,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson and her troop donated an assortment of school supplies to the children at Global Playground’s schools.    

       

“I gave each of them a brown bag and paint, and they decorated each of their bags and filled them with things to donate,” Ferguson said. “It was colored pencils, regular pencils, a soccer ball, a protractor, a compass, and other supplies.”

Smith was touched by the donation from the girls.

“It wasn’t the quantity of supplies, but it was the thought,” Smith said.

Ferguson explained to her troop that the supplies would benefit other children like them in other countries around the world.

“I explained to them that these school supplies are going to kids in a school in a foreign country where they can’t afford to buy school supplies,” Ferguson said.

Daisy Girl Scout Troop 452’s donations will go to the children at Global Playground’s new school in Vietnam. U.S. Teaching Fellow Ryan Drysdale brought the water bottle toy idea down to Honduras during a recent visit.

“Her idea was to take the plastic drinking bottles, cut the ends off, tether the cap onto the end of the bottle, and swing the cap to try to capture it in the bottle,” Smith said. “Mothers in Honduras would cook lunch by putting open bottles on the fire to cook, and I knew that was toxic. I thought perhaps this might be a better use for the bottles.”

Smith traveled to Honduras with her family and volunteers from Global Playground in 2010. Her son, Doug Smith, is the Corporation’s Secretary.