Local Girl Scout troop’s Bronze Award project supports Father Joe’s

A group of caring sixth graders in local Girl Scout Troop 3816 is hoping to make a difference in their community by helping the homeless. The troop recently completed their Bronze Award project, putting together 120 wellness kits filled with essential toiletries to donate to Father Joe’s Villages.

In addition to hygiene items, each kit came with a QR code to direct recipients to the helpful resources at Father Joe’s Skills and Training Enhancement Program (STEP), where people can explore a variety of employment opportunities and job training. The codes were printed on hand-written notecards that the girls made, each with sweet and inspirational messages.

“Never give up!” read one. “Everyone has a purpose.”

The girls came up with the QR code idea as a way to create a positive, lasting change, one of the driving missions of the Bronze Award.

“Being of a younger, more tech-savvy generation, the troop recognized how we can better fold in tools, like QR codes, to help connect people to job training and employment,” said Joshua Bohannan, chief strategy officer for Father Joe’s. “This novel solution helped us as a service provider better evaluate our own offerings and expand how we get information into the hands of people, in addition to helping to meet basic needs like these hygiene kits.”

Girl Scout Troop 3816 has been together since 2020, when they started out as Brownies from Sage Canyon Elementary School. The Bronze Award is the highest achievement that they can earn as a Junior scout, a project that must be completed during the fourth or fifth grade year before the girls transition into a Cadet level Girl Scout.

Troop 3816 has been working on their project for about a  year.  As the girls investigated potential projects they had to be persistent as they ran into roadblocks.

After cycling through a few different ideas, the troop was inspired to put together the wellness kits after doing volunteer work for the first time, serving meals at Father Joe’s. It was an eye-opening experience for the girls, said one of the troop’s parent leaders Lisa Krijger.

“They were struck by just how little they had, how grateful they were and how considerate everyone was. They got a different perspective and just saw how alone they are,” Krijger said. “It was sad for them—they recognized how challenging it was to be homeless, to be without shelter, and they just wanted to give back.”

The girls brainstormed and came up with a list of useful items to include in their kits.

“We decided what we needed by looking at things we use in our everyday lives and things they might not have. We’re not giving them things they’re not able to use. They are going to use this in their everyday lives,” said troop member Emerson. “We’re not giving them Legos or Barbies, we’re giving them toothpaste and a toothbrush and clean, new socks.”

The community was generous in helping the girls to fill their kits. The troop got contributions from the Del Mar Highlands Jimbo’s and the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, who is hosting the fifth annual Father Joe’s Villages Golf Classic on Sept. 25 to support veterans facing the challenges of homelessness. As one of the girls’ mothers is a dentist, she contributed all the toothpaste from her practice, Thompson Center for Dentistry. Braces by Grant, a Carmel Valley orthodontist, donated dental floss. Local Nellwyn Voorhies donated the string backpacks that the girls stuffed with their collected toiletries which included soaps and body sprays.

Once the girls selected Father Joe’s as the beneficiary of their Bronze Award project, Krijger knew she could help. She used to be an attending physician at Father Joe’s and now serves on the board. She and her husband Ajay Nirula just chaired the very successful 75th anniversary Children’s Charity Gala, Beacon of Hope.

“I just love all the programs, I’ve just seen how comprehensive everything is and how much they stretch every penny,” said Krijger. “I think it’s one of the best charities around.”

Krijger had used the culinary program from STEP to cater a kickoff event from the gala and was moved to tears by the beautiful spread the participants created, “It was better than anything I’d ever seen, how artistic and exquisite and high-end everything was.”

In speaking to some of the people involved in the program, she learned that not everyone is aware of all the education and employment offerings Father Joe’s offers and sometimes people who might be interested slip through the cracks. The girls approached Father Joe’s about their idea for a QR code to raise awareness and, in response, Father Joe’s spent about a month developing a new structure and landing page for STEP to guide people to.

“It’s amazing what the girls can do and I’m glad that they saw this as an opportunity,” Krijger said. “Even if just one person is informed of what Father Joe’s offers and it helps one client to get a job and potentially move themselves out of homelessness, that’s a lot. I’m proud of what they did.”