Local Scouts Serve Dinner at the Annapolis Shelter

When a local Girl Scout Troop went looking for a community service project, three of the member, Rebecca Terneus, Rachel Sanford and Autumn Thompson, decided they wanted to do something to help people. They decided, along with other members of Edgewater-Davidsonville Troop 1609, that they would visit the Light House Shelter in Annapolis to serve dinner to families in need. The shelter, which provides services to homeless families, relies heavily on volunteers to help with a variety of services. 

Terneus, ambassador for the troop, and a junior at South River High School, said that once the idea was brought up, all the girls from the troop collaborated on a menu.

"We all did something. Even the girls who were not there serving, cooked something or dropped something off," Terneus said.

The girls, 14 to 17 years old, cooked a meal of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, fruit salad, apple sauce and ice cream for dessert.

"The people there were so nice and so helpful," Terneus said. "It was a lot of fun going there because the people stayed and talked to us. Sometimes you go and people ignore you once your job is done. At this one, everyone was really, really nice."

The girls arrived just before 5 p.m., served the food, and by the time cleanup was done, it was 7:45 p.m.

According to officials at the shelter, more families and indivduals than ever are coming to the Light House for help. In a statement sent to Patch via email, "as a result of the increase in the number of people in need the Light House serves, especially with the addition of 35 winter relief beds, there is an urgent need for items such as grocery items, bagged lunches and casseroles."

Terneus said that everything was served on time, and as always, parents of troop members were a great help to the girls.

"Going into this I didnt have many expectaions. I figured it would be something fun to do while getting service hours," Terneus said. "Me and all of the other girls that were there have agreed that we want to do this much more oftten, the people at the shelter were very polite and helpful."

If your group would like to volunteer to help at the Light House shelter, call Michele Marshall, 443-569-4208, or e-mail, marshall@annapolislighthouse.org.