A group of local first graders are helping to do some good in the community.
New Sarpy Elementary students and Girl Scout Troop 20470 are helping to collect donations of school uniforms to give to local families who might be in need – with several schools in St. Charles Parish taking part in it.
Rachel Persich, whose daughters are Girl Scouts and New Sarpy Elementary students, said the idea came about during a “Teacher Meet and Greet” event where students and their parents could meet their teachers for the upcoming school year.
“The front office at New Sarpy accepts gently used uniforms … parents and families just pass them down when their children have outgrown them,” Persich said. “They make them available for students in case there’s a spill (and) they need to change clothes. We put the uniform items out for the meet and greet event and said ‘Hey, if anyone wants to grab anything, feel free.’”
By the night’s end, all of the items were gone.
“That really confirmed to us that there was a need for families to have access to uniforms,” Persich said.
That inspired Persich to bring an idea to her daughters’ scout troop leader, Cristina Hargis – perhaps the scouts could coordinate with the school a uniform drive and a community event for local families to retrieve them. Hargis liked the idea and the drive is on.
“We were originally just going to do one for New Sarpy Elementary but we decided to open it up to all local schools – we felt it could do some good for people in the community.”
There will be five drop off locations – at New Sarpy and Ethel Schoeffner elementary schools, at GracePoint Church and United Methodist Church, and Persich will also have a collection box out on her own front porch.
The Girl Scouts will help collect the donations, but have also already jumped into action, decorating the collection boxes that will be used for drop offs.
“They’ve put some of their artistic skills to use … they’re getting to be together as a group while also working to help serve the community. I think it’s a great opportunity for our girls.” ‘
Nine New Sarpy students are part of the troop, which is in its second year.
