By Leslie Moriarty
Herald Writer
EVERETT — Armed with armloads of coats, a group of Girl Scouts from Snohomish marched through the front doors of the Catholic Community Services office in Everett Thursday.
Full of smiles and giggles, the girls, ages 6 and 7, dropped the coats in front of a big Christmas tree and returned to their leader’s car to retrieve more.
In all, the Girl Scout Troop 1899 brought in more than 150 clean coats for those in need.
"These girls have worked really hard," said leader Amy Scofield. "They’ve gathered these coats during the past month from their families and friends."
Scofield said her troop members are very "tuned in" to helping others. They’ve cleaned parks, visited homes for the elderly and made gifts to give away.
But the coat drive is something special.
"When we began talking about what to do for Christmas, the girls all said they wanted to help kids who needed things," Scofield said. "But they said they didn’t want to just help kids. They wanted to help parents, too.
"So instead of a toy drive, they decided on a coat drive."
Knowing that winter is just around the corner and that homelessness doesn’t discriminate by age, they figured coats were the perfect thing to give away.
"It makes me feel good that we can do something to help the homeless," said Kendra Waters, 8, who attends Garfield Elementary School. "I know these coats are going to people who really need them."
Donna Witte, of Catholic Community Services, said the coats will be distributed to children in the service’s foster care program. Others will be given to families in crisis and to adults who seek help through the charitable organization.
"We know lots of kids and families who can use these," she said.
Other troop members who collected coats besides Waters were Michaela Scofield, Caitlyn Allen, Brianna Eney, Madie Wicks, Amanda Floyd, Kayla Gaudette, Allison Bachmeier, Shakara Heaton and Hailey Peterman.
You can call Herald Writer Leslie Moriarty at 425-339-3436
or send e-mail to moriarty@heraldnet.com.
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