Los Gatos Girl Scouts Beautify LGS Recreation Building

Los Gatos Girl Scout Troop 60082, made up of 17 fifth-graders from Blossom Hill Elementary School, devoted time, energy and their own hard-earned money to give the building a new look.  

As part of the Girl Scout Bronze Award, the girls were required to design, fund and then communicate to the community a special service project.

The Bronze Award is the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can achieve, according to Dana Parker, one of the troop's leaders.

The girls spent more than 20 hours looking through garden books, touring local garden centers, planning and then doing the work. They received help from their parents and their Girl Scout leaders, Julie Lasher, Diane Johnson and Parker.  

The girls also sold several thousand boxes of Girl Scout cookies to generate a $1,000 fund to pay for an assortment of shrubs and perennials.

Parent Kimberly Damore and friend Carolyn Rosen helped the girls design a landscape plan for the building focusing on the use of drought-resistant plants colored in warm hues of yellow, orange and red.

The girls and their parents spent two Saturdays clearing out tired plants and replacing them with fresh new plantings. "Thank you to the Girl Scouts for the wonderful beautification of the facility," said Steve Rauwolf from the Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation Center. He added that "the Girl Scouts provide great hope for the future of Los Gatos."     

Parker said she was proud of the girls for selecting the project, meeting with recreation officials and following through with its implementation. "They have all grown into leaders of our community and this is exactly what participation in the Girl Scouts is all about,” she said.              

Girl Scout Joanna Shan agreed and said they all learned a lot and are pleased with their accomplishments.

“They didn’t do the work just to earn the Bronze Award, but they did the work to make our community more beautiful,” Shan noted.

Troop 60082 was formed five years ago when the girls were in first grade and Lasher, Parker and Johnson stepped up, got organized, filed all the necessary paperwork and agreed to lead the girls.

During the past five years the girls have met twice a month, enjoyed several overnight camp-outs, earned numerous badges, marched in the sold thousands of boxes of cookies and learned about the significance of doing helpful things for others in their community.  

The troop has made generous monetary donations to the Heiffer International, the American Red Cross-Japan Earthquake Relief, the Blossom Hill Elementary School Home and School Club and the City of San Jose Animal Care & Services animal shelter, according to Lasher.

They have also collected pet supplies and food for donation, dozens of coats for One Warm Coat and cleaned up the school grounds and Blossom Hill Park.