RUMFORD — After selling more than 2,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, a group of Brownies found a great way to spend some of the proceeds.

On May 9, second and third graders with River Valley Brownie Troop 910 (Rumford, Mexico, Dixfield and Peru) donated some 30 bags of items they put together to the Rumford Fire Department, to be used to help fire victims.

Brownie Riley Bedard said, “We went to the Dollar Tree and got the supplies, then we packaged it.”

Brownie Molly Berry added, “It will help people who had fires and now have nothing.”

Fire Chief Bob Chase told the scouts, “After a fire, lots of folks have nothing. We had some folks who recently had a fire and one of the ladies said to me, ‘I woke up that next morning and I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I couldn’t even brush my teeth.’

He said troop leaders had called with an idea about donating teddy bears for kids after they’ve had a car accident. “We have a lot of that stuff right now, so we were thinking about other ideas, this became a real good opportunity because someone just expressed to me that ‘I didn’t even have a tooth brush the next morning.'”

“So the girls put a lot of thought about what should go in the bags and I think it shows they really care about their community. And that’s a very, very important thing,” said Chase.

Troop Leaders Sara Searles and Jana Richardson said the Troop sold around 2,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies over three months earlier this year, and also donated 73 boxes to Meals on Wheels and 75 to military troops.

When the Troop decided this as a community project for their Journey Badge, they made a list of what people might need, then shopped for items (including hygiene items) for three different kinds of packages: one for women, one for men and one for children. They put together around 10 packages for each group, with the largest ones being for kids.

“This is an important piece because we talked about that there’s some organizations that can help somebody get into a hotel for the night, or can help them to food, but some of this stuff you guys really thought of they can’t find on their own, they lost theirs,” said Chase.

“I’m very proud of what you did. It’s very important. You should be proud of yourselves,” he noted.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

Pictured with Rumford Fire Chief Bob Chase and Rumford Town Manager Linda-Jean “L-J” Briggs are members of River Valley Brownie Troop 910 — Elliott, Marlay, Samantha, Sophie, Molly, Autumn and Rylee. The scouts donated bags of items that can help fire victims.