Girl Scouts gather candy for the troops

U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East received sweet treats thanks to the efforts of the Tipp/Bethel Junior Girl Scout Troop 30732 and Jim Mason, a pediatric dentist.

The troop collected 150 pounds of Halloween candy from the fourth and fifth grade students at L.T. Ball Intermediate School. The project earned the troop a Bronze Award.

Pam Schuller, co-leader of the local troop, explained the Bronze Award project is for junior Girl Scouts in the fourth and fifth grades. The local troop is composed of Jillian Walker, Nicole Downing, Taylor Smith, Katarina Schuller, Charlotte Borle and Graci Fields, all fifth-graders at L.T. Ball Intermediate School.

“We were just brainstorming different ideas, and they came up with the idea of collecting candy for the troops,” said Schuller, who co-leads the troop with Sandy Booher.

The girls received the school’s permission to make posters and flyers, advertise and put collection boxes in the classrooms prior to Halloween. In a week’s time, they collected 150 pounds of candy. Schuller said the girls then had to sort through the candy and discard any empty wrappers and candy that wasn’t in wrappers or that was in broken wrappers.

“None of them ate a piece,” Schuller said. “It was tempting.”

For the sorting and shipping, the Girl Scouts received assistance from Mason, a pediatric dentist at HealthPark Dentistry in Tipp City. He offered to ship the candy for the Girl Scout troop.

Schuller explained that Mason recently returned from service in the Middle East and knew the value of what a piece of candy can do to brighten a soldier’s day.

The girls spent about 18 hours on their project. Schuller said this was the first project of many projects the girls will be doing together.

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