Lenape Valley Girl Scout Troop 418 donates to St. Michael's Food Pantry

NETCONG — Girl Scout Troop 418 hosted its annual World Thinking Day event at the Netcong Elementary School on Feb. 19. More than 220 Girl Scouts, their families, and members of the community celebrated the sisterhood of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world.
The Lenape Valley Girl Scout troop — which consist of girls and volunteers from Byram, Netcong, and Stanhope — represented over 11 countries and offered foods, games, and crafts to all participants. This year’s theme was “Connect.” In addition to learning about Scouts from other countries, Troop 418 members listened as local nonprofit agencies presented information about how the community can “connect” by serving others.
This year's presenters were:
Ginnie’s House, which serves children and families in crisis (www.ginnieshouse.org)
America’s Grow-A-Row, which focuses on helping community food banks and agencies gain access to local farm produce (www.americasgrowarow.org)
Ryan’s Case for Smiles, a nonprofit group that creates handmade pillowcases for hospitalized children who are facing severe illness (www.caseforsmiles.org)

This is the third year that Troop 418 has hosted this event, which serves not only as an educational and fun night out for the community, but a greater purpose: to raise funds for St. Michael's Food Pantry in Netcong.
As an incentive to go the extra mile, Girl Scouts who brought in food donations the night of the event received an extra fun patch, generously donated by Snappy Logos (www.snappylogos.com). The morning after the event, Troop 418 delivered to the pantry a van full of food, over 350 items, to help stock the shelves.
The troop also received a generous donation of $200 from ShopRite Supermarkets, and with all the funds raised from Thinking Day, they were able to stock the food bank with much-needed pantry items, including over 100 jars of pasta sauce, 100 bags of rice, 75 tubs of peanut butter, as well as canned soups, ravioli, vegetables, fruits, dry pasta, and juice; plus over 100 bottles of shampoo, soaps, deodorants, toothbrushes, toothpaste, winter hats, and gloves,and reusable shopping bags — with a total value of more than $1,425.
In addition to the items purchased for this year’s donation, Troop 418 held a food drive earlier in the month, receiving hundreds of items to stock the pantry from the Byram Lakes Elementary School.
"Lenape Valley Girl Scout Troop 418 wishes to thank all those who participated in making this service event so successful, we could not do it without the help of the community and our Sister Scouts," said troop leader Vesna Dan. "We encourage service and commitment to helping others and ask that all who are able, continue to help those in need, and help fight the battle of hunger and food insecurity in our own back yard."
For more information about Girl Scout Troop 418, please email vesnadan@msn.com or call (973) 601-9895.
St. Michael’s Food Pantry is located at 4 Church Street in Netcong. The public is encouraged to drop donations off in a white bin marked 'FOOD,' located outside the pantry's double garage doors. The pantry relies solely on the support of the community and needs help year-round, as they serve more than 35 families per week.
For more information about the pantry, please call (973) 347-0032.
For more information about Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, visit them online at www.gsnnj.org.