Girl Scouts donate birthday kits to help struggling families

Members of local Girl Scout Troop 71546 of West Plains recently made 10 "Birthday in a Bag" donations and left half of them at the Giving Tree at Rescue Church on the corner of Sixth Street and Minnesota Avenue and the other half at the food pantry at nearby Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center. The "Birthday in a Bag" contains a disposable cake pan, cake mix, frosting and a celebration banner, recognizing that struggling families still deserve to celebrate birthdays even if they can't afford a cake and the trimmings. Co-leaders Sara Chapman and Cassandra Sloniker praised the girls for choosing the project as a way to help families and expressed pride in the troop's commitment to community service projects. From left are Annalise Grose, Aria Ziino, Adaleah Roberts, Chloe Girdley, Emily Hatcher and Kinslea Chapman.