LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — With vaccines on the rise and a decline in COVID cases, some safety guidelines are being relaxed.
But not so much at many area nursing homes. Most residents still haven’t seen their loved ones in more than a year.
But a sweet project that you can join in is hoping to bring some cheer.
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey highlighted this "Cookie Campaign” on Thursday.
It was launched by a group of Girl Scouts from the Wilkes-Barre area.
The project is spearheaded by several ninth and tenth graders who are part of Girl Scout Troop #33206 in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
"We're based in Wilkes-Barre. We're working on our 'adopt-a-grandparent project.' We’re working to collect donated boxes of Girl Scout cookies to give to residents of nursing homes because they haven't seen their family," Em Raub of Dallas said.
"So that we could spread joy," Aaralynn Mbaye of Plains Township added.
Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey asked, "what kind of sweet treats are you going to be donating to these awesome people who are really going to smile because of your generosity?"
Sophia Hoffman of Wilkes-Barre explained: "tagalongs, s'mores, thin mints, lemon ups. Do-si-dos."
Support The Cause Online
To help this tasty project make a bigger impact in our area, the scout troop launched this site so you can show your support online.
Your donation helps purchase boxes of cookies that the girl scout troop plans to drop off for residents at local facilities including Allied Services in the Wilkes-Barre Area, Elan Gardens in the Clarks Summit Area, and Kadima at Lakeside in the Harveys Lake Area.
The more people who donate, the more it helps the cookie campaign exceed its goal of reaching 100 nursing home residents.
"We've done a lot of things to help people in nursing homes before, like caroling and making little crafts for them. So since we can't visit them this year, we wanted to do something for them and we thought this would be a good idea," Raub said.
In the past, the girl scout group has donated cookies to local police and fire departments along with several nonprofits. This year, they really just wanted to bring some cheer to nursing home residents in our area.
Donate In Person
How To Find A Cookie Booth
As part of the "cookie campaign," aka "Adopt-A-Grandparent" project, the girl scout troop will also host cookie booths at the following locations:
Friday, March 26, 2021:
Canteen Park, 181 Market St, Kingston, PA 18704 (4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
Saturday, March 27, 2021:
Kidder St. Deli, 800 Kidder St, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 ( 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.)
Questions?
Email: 33206seniors@gmail.com