Girl Scouts pledge to be considerate and caring, and make the world a better place. So Ruthie McLaughlin took it seriously when her Mystic Valley Regional Charter School troop asked each girl to carry out a good deed. Ruthie, a second grader, chose to help "poor people who may not have enough to eat" and worried that the parents of hungry children would be sad.
Ruthie and her mom began by bringing a box of food to Bread of Life in Malden. Ruthie included some gluten-free items, since she lives with celiac disease and thought it would be a good idea to share her favorites with others who might need gluten-free foods. The response from Bread of Life inspired her to do more, so she and her mother helped serve Easter dinner there. According to her mom, "Ruthie really enjoyed handing out desserts to everyone. That's her favorite thing to hand out: dessert."
Right now Ruthie has involved her mother and younger sister, but she'd like other kids to know, "It's really easy to do. Just take a few things from your kitchen and put them in a bag and drop them by."
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Her mother is impressed and proud: "Ruthie is a very compassionate person by nature, and it bothers her to see what she considers an injustice. Her time at Bread of Life helps her feel that she is part of a solution. I am truly in awe of her choosing to volunteer regularly; I watch her interact with both her fellow volunteers and with attendees with grace and aplomb. It's like she's known them all her life."
