Spread the Warmth: Blanket Drive Exceeds 100!

About 125 blankets collected!

In honor of the Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary in 2012, troops from Service Unit 51-7 launched the “Spread the Warmth: Girl Scout 100 Blanket Drive” in December support of Reston Interfaith’s Embry Rucker Shelter.

At our Dec. 12 winter service project meeting, Girl Scouts brought in the blankets, linens, towels and pillows they collected, overflowing two lunch tables! During the meeting, they also:

• created Thank You cards to donors
• created flyers for collection bags
• decorated cards for Operation Smile
• listened to a story about homelessness read by SUM Anne Parrish
• listened to a presentation by Reston Interfaith on other volunteer opportunities
• bagged the blankets and linens, and placed them in Reston Interfaith’s van

Thanks to the Girl Scouts who collected blankets, as well as to generous Herndon Patch and Reston Patch readers who donated blankets, we reached the 100 mark on Saturday, Dec. 16! And thanks to ongoing efforts by troops such as 181 and 4931, the number of donations has increased to about 125!

A big THANK YOU also goes to Trader Joe’s in Reston, which donated the bags that will be used for neighborhood door-to-door collections for additional donations.

Troops can continue to collect through the new year as Embry Rucker’s residents are sometimes transient and take the blankets with them. If you continue to collect, here are the guidelines:

• New or clean, gently used blankets (any size), twin sheets, pillow cases, towels and wash cloths.
• New pillows.

Reston Interfaith is NOT accepting anything stuffed, like comforters, quilts, bedspreads with filling or used pillows for reasons of hygiene.

If you would like to donate items or have questions,
please click here to send an email to SU 51-7.

Continuing to collect blankets and linens? Contact Therese Howe for more bags if you need them. Need more flyers? Click below to download and print:

Blanket Drive Flyer

Our efforts have gained attention online locally and nationally! Thanks to notices in the Herndon and Reston Patch, we have had great community response asking how to support our effort and donate blankets and linens.

http://reston.patch.com/articles/local-girl-scouts-collecting-blankets-for-reston-interfaith

http://herndon.patch.com/articles/local-girl-scouts-collecting-blankets-for-reston-interfaith

Our Blanket Drive also was posted recently in GSUSA’s blog:

SU 51-7 100th Birthday Party!

In recognition of the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Service Unit 51-7 is inviting 51-7 Girl Scouts to a 100th Anniversary Open House on Monday, March 12th!

Girls can attend either with their troops or with a parent. If a troop goes together without their families, troop leaders will need to have permission slips and all the standard Girl Scout paperwork. If a girl attends with her family, permission slips are not required. Parents will be responsible for their Girl Scouts during this event. Due to space limitations, non-Girl Scout siblings will not be able to attend. Parking is limited so carpooling is encouraged.

As part of our 100th celebration, we’re inviting party attendees to bring copies of one or more photos of themselves as Girl Scouts, preferably in uniform, either as early as possible or from each level you’ve done. When you arrive, you’ll be able to post these on a timeline so we can all take a peek at each others’ early Girl Scouting experiences.

To share our birthday celebration with the community, we are also collecting birthday party supplies to give to Reston Interfaith, which celebrates the birthdays of their shelter children (babies to teens). Their preference would be for unopened packages of goods, or at least “new” items, not those that may have been out and used (party favors, blowers, hats). Any theme is fine and they are willing to mix and match supplies for parties. They could use plates, napkins, cups, plastic utensils, party hats, party favors, table covers for rectangular tables, and perhaps balloons.

For details on time and location, please contact your troop leader. We hope to see you there!

Happy Holidays

2011 Reston Town Center Parade

SU 51-7 troop’s fabulous Magic School Bus, from Reston Patch.com

2011 South Lakes Homecoming Parade