Scouts Step Up For Struggling Food Pantry

Lending a helping hand and learning life lessons that shape responsible children is what the Girl Scouts are all about.

So when a local troop leader from the Harrison Girl Scouts read about the current struggles of the Harrison Food Pantry, she thought what better cause to help during the fall season?

The Harrison Girl Scouts, who share a building with the Harrison Food Pantry, are holding various events and fundraisers this fall to help stock the shelves of the food pantry. From asking for donations outside of local supermarkets to collecting canned foods, the girls have pledged to do everything they can to help out.

"We teach them skills, we try to have fun with them, but a big part of it is service and giving back to your community," said Harrison Girl Scouts Treasurer Gail Frohlich. "This is one chance we really had to instill that in them."

Although the scouts have been helping out the pantry for years, a troop leader decided to organize several events this fall after visiting the pantry earlier this month. Troop leaders had read about the low food levels in the pantry before, but didn't have a true understanding of how bad things have gotten until a troop leader visited the pantry herself.

"She was like 'oh my God, this is so much worse than we even thought it was'," Frohlich said, and troop leaders immediately began planning ways to help.

This month, girl scouts from Harrison will collect donations at and Shop Rite in White Plains on October 22 and 23. The scouts will also make a $500 donation to the pantry taken from member dues this year and will be asked to bring a canned food to meetings.

Other activities include a Thanksgiving basket that girl scouts will be asked to put together in November and the option to even adopt a family in need throughout the holiday season.

With nearly 200 total members, Frohlich is hoping that the scouts can make an impact on the more than 100 local families who rely on the pantry for help on a regular basis.

"It's our town, it's our community, and it’s our kids' friends and classmates. It could be our neighbors for all we know," Frohlich said. "When you're going to help out people at least you know it's those that are closest to you."