ALTON – Local Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Troop 130 has decided to help local seniors throughout the Riverbend area by donating boxes of cookies to area Meals on Wheels programs through their annual Gift of Caring program.
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For the eighth year in a row, Troop 130 is taking part in the Gift of Caring program lead by troop leaders Jennifer Melton and Carmen Noack. Each year the troop’s parents make suggestions of some local nonprofits that they would potentially like to donate to. They explain what each organization does and then the girls vote on whom they want to share with. This year the troop chose Senior Services Plus (SSP)’s Meals on Wheels in Alton, Ill.
“Most of the recipients are shut-ins,” says Melton. “A lot of them don’t have much family involvement or anyone around to help take care of them. They may not get the chance to have some of the cookies otherwise so the girls wanted to donate the boxes to them to help brighten their day.”
Senior Services Plus is home to the area’s Meals on Wheels program that helps low-income and at-risk seniors that rely on the program for 33 percent of their daily nutrition and allows them to remain living in their homes. In January SSP announced that they had to cut 40 percent of deliveries for the program due to the Illinois budget impasse.
Troop 130 consists of 23 girls ranging from second to seventh grade from areas such as Wood River, Roxana, East Alton, Hartford, Alton, Edwardsville and Troy. The troop is collecting donations and cookie sales until March through personal sales and table booths at various locations around the area. For more information on how to donate or to make purchase, please contact Jennifer Melton at 618-420-1515 or by email at girlscout130@gmail.com.
SSP is a non-profit United Way agency established to help enrich the lives of older adults through programs and services that encourage independent living and provide opportunities and resources to individuals as they age. The organization serves residents of Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois and in St. Louis City and County. To find out more about the organization and the Meals on Wheels program please visit www.seniorservicesplus.org or call 618-465-3298.
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