These Girl Scouts do more than sell cookies. Ceres troop gives care packs to homeless

A troop of Girl Scouts from Ceres proved they can do a lot more than sell cookies Saturday.

The girls handed out care packages to the homeless in downtown Modesto as a troop community service project. Troop 3269 put together about 100 bags filled with personal hygiene products, medical supplies and more to give to those less fortunate.

Troop leader Emily Maeyama said this is the second year in a row the group has done a community service project. Last year, they helped serve food with Church in the Park.

“That was the first time they really got a look at the homeless population here,” Maeyama said. “So this year, they had this idea and wanted to help make change in the community.”

The care packs include toothpaste and toothbrushes, bandages, antibiotics, tissues, soap, antibacterial wipes, socks and snacks. The girls went to local dentist offices to ask for the dental supplies, and got other donations as well. They also used some of their Girl Scout Cookie money to pay for the socks and personal items.

The small troop of 10 fourth and fifth-graders from Ceres assembled the packages together last week. Then Saturday morning, they went with Maeyama and parent volunteers to pass them out around the downtown Transportation Center. They also walked up to the Stanislaus County Public Library.

“It’s been good working on this and it makes me feel happy to see the smiles from the homeless people we’ve given them to,” said 10-year-old troop member Brisa Mendes.

This story was originally published April 15, 2018 at 2:52 PM with the headline "These Girl Scouts do more than sell cookies. Ceres troop gives care packs to homeless."