Season of giving for Girl Scouts, Food Pantry

The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can achieve, and though sixth graders Brooklan Strange and Eve Shaff are now cadettes in Groton Troop #40049, they are determined to finish earning the award they started before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted their momentum.

Strange has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten, and Shaff is in her third year.

Earning the Bronze requires Girl Scout Juniors to create a “Take Action” project. They need to explore their community, choose a project, plan it, put the plan in motion and then spread the word about it.

As the girls explored their options, one project resonated best: planning and running a donation drive for the Tompkins County SPCA. They have both adopted cats and dogs from the SPCA into their families, so it is an organization that means a lot to them.

“They have a lot of animals and not as many adoptions because of the coronavirus, so they’re needing more supplies,” Strange said.

To that end, Strange and Shaff will be collecting donations from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28 at the C.R. Pavilion on Main Street.

The items needed most on the SPCA wish list include clumping kitty litter, new litter boxes, cat wand toys, cage-mounted scratchers, kitten nursing bottles, kitten milk replacement, meat-flavored baby food (no onion or garlic), canned dog food, dog toys (no tennis balls, please), squeeze or spray cheese, low-fat mozzarella cheese sticks and others.

Monetary donations will also gladly be received. Checks should be written directly to the Tompkins County SPCA. Cash donations will be used to purchase gift cards from the wish list.

Cans and bottles may also be brought to the collection site and will be redeemed to purchase gift cards.

Strange and Shaff have also been working on homemade pet toys to give to the SPCA, and this column is one way the girls are fulfilling the “spread the word” part of earning their award.

“Let’s show how much we can give for the Thanksgiving/Christmas season!” is their message to the Groton community.

While Strange and Shaff have the pet population covered, the Groton Food Pantry (GFP) coordinator, Jessamine Stone, would like to invite anyone in the community to participate in the second annual “Reverse Advent Calendar” project, which involves an individual, family, business, classroom or other group partnering with the GFP to add food items to a box for a family in need.

Those who participate will receive a calendar of nonperishable items to add to the box each day. Once the boxes are collected, the GFP will add a nice cut of meat and perishable items to them such as milk, eggs and fresh produce (based upon availability).

The calendar begins Friday, Nov. 27 and goes through Thursday, Dec. 17. Completed boxes can be dropped off at the GFP, 101 McKinley Ave., on Friday, Dec. 18 between 1 and 7 p.m. and boxes may be picked up by recipients (Groton residents only) Saturday, Dec. 19 between 9 a.m. and noon.

“This year, more than ever, I felt the burden to make sure that families would not feel the sting of COVID during a time that is already one of the roughest times financially for them,” Stone said. “My team and I saw an opportunity to give the gift of peace of mind this year and could not let it pass us by. It is our goal that no family will have to worry how they will have a nice meal or be able to afford the Christmas holiday break this year.”

Stone said the heart of the community supported those sentiments last year and has continued throughout this entire year.

“If the heart is there to give, we want to be the means of connection between those who want to give and those who need,” Stone said. “We need the community now more than ever. The numbers of those in need are up four times that they were before COVID.”

For questions, to be involved or to suggest a family who would benefit from a box, contact Stone at 607-4825 or grotonfoodproviders18@outlook.com.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Stone would also like to send thanks from herself and the GFP team to all the community members who have expressed kind words, recognition on Facebook and through personal messages.

“COVID has made a stressful job even more stressful,” she said. “Your kind words and thankful attitudes carry us through.”

Stone is also very grateful for the volunteers at the pantry.

“These folks give abundantly of themselves every week and make what we do possible,” she said. “They are literally the lifeblood of the pantry. I would not want to do this amazing work alongside anyone else.”

Gratitude goes to Peg Baez, Donna Berich, Gary and Meg Bouch, Kasey Dunn, Lisa and Dennis Gallow, Bec Haley, Loretta Lilly, Mike and Sarah Lockwood and family, Lana Romano, Jamie Seamans and all who have helped on specific projects, especially many members of the senior Criminal Justice program at TST BOCES.

Stone would also like to publicly thank “the selfless individuals who gave generously so that we could provide over 250 Thanksgiving baskets to our community: Steve Gobel and employees of the Groton Bank and Chris Dempsey. There is no way we could have pulled it off this year without them.”

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.

In brief:

Holiday light contest

The village of Groton 2020 LED Holiday Light Contest is underway, so if you have not officially entered, now is the time.

You must be a village of Groton resident and must either call 607-898-3966 or email the Village Office at deputytreasurer@grotonny.org in order to enter the contest. Please provide your name, address and contact number.

First place prize is a $50 Village Electric gift certificate and second place is a $25 certificate. All lights must be LED to encourage a safe and efficient festive display.

TC Farm to School RFP

Tompkins County Farm to School is looking for farms to buy products from for January to June 2021. New this year is maple syrup and mushrooms. Tompkins County Farm to School works to connect K-12 schools with local food providers to improve student nutrition, provide agriculture and nutrition education opportunities, and support local and regional farmers.

Child nutrition programs from across the county must procure their products through a competitive bid process. The Cornell Cooperative Extension RFP for January to June 2021 products is now open. Documents are available at ccetompkins.org/about-us/bid-requests.

A hard copy can be sent by mail by emailing Chloe Boutelle at ceb367@cornell.edu. The bid deadline is 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10. Please send any questions to Boutelle by Thursday, Dec. 3. Questions and answers will be posted on the website above Friday, Dec. 4.

Groton Community Choir

While the popular Groton Community Choir annual cantata has been pre-empted by COVID-19 for what would have been its 70th live performance this year, there will be a live-streamed performance from some select smaller groups.
Save the date for the evening of Saturday, Dec. 5 for this “COVID cantata,” and be sure to come back to this column next week for time and further details.