My Journey Not to Settle...anymore!: The B.O.O.K. Project

My favorite quote (or reminder as I like to think of them)...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” (Marianne Williamson - A Return to Love)

Friday, April 16, 2010

The B.O.O.K. Project

B.O.O.K. -- Books Offer Opportunities to Kids!!

Happy Random Ramblings on Friday! As many of you know, I am a (very proud) Girl Scout Leader of a group of 12 - 8th grade ladies and Caroline. Yup. She's her own troop of one. Why? Because she didn't want to be part of her original troop anymore due to the fact that she felt all they did was crafts. Well, that is NOT what Girl Scouting is by any means. The promise we GS's make is that "On my honor, I will try to serve God, and my country, and to help people at all times".

It is not to see how many ways you can make a picture frame out of foam art.

So Caroline decided that (Kelly &) I were going to be her leaders in her grand ol' troop of one and we were going to earn her Junior Bronze Award (the highest achievement a Junior GS can earn) and it typically takes about three years to earn. It entails doing badges and Sign Awards (which teach you in depth about a subject), earning her Leadership Award, and committing yourself to doing a project for a minimum of 15 hours that makes a positive impact in the community.

Caroline decided (after MUCH deliberation and research) to host a book drive to collect books for underprivileged schools in our communities. That book drive has officially started as of yesterday (and goes until June 2nd)! This is an exciting project that has already manifested a $20 donation to purchase new books (thank you Grampa Burdick), a donation of 10 books by a 4th grader that doesn't even know her (thank you MacKenzie), and a donation of 3 large boxes of books from one of the local libraries -- all before we even awoke yesterday! How great is that!!?

We will be (and have been) placing collection boxes in various places like libraries, work places, etc. We have also passed out empty grocery bags to all of our neighbors asking that if they would like to donate. If they do they simply leave the bag on their porch on a certain day for pick up. It's so exciting to think of what a difference this project can make and how many children it can touch!

If you would like to help out too, please let me know! And if you would like to read what Caroline has said about her project, please visit her blog! Happy Friday!