Ossining Girl Scouts Spread Generosity and Holiday Cheer Throughout the Community

On a recent weekend, the odds of an Ossining Girl Scout troop running into another troop in the aisles of the Mt. Kisco Target were pretty strong. Many found themselves in the same nearby restaurant afterward, excitedly wrapping their purchases. What was the occasion?

It’s Family to Family, an annual fundraiser for the public schools in which Ossining Girl Scouts participates. Each year, school social workers provide the scouts with a list of families in need. Troops are assigned a family along with specifications for that family’s children, such as ages, clothing sizes, and favorite toys or characters. Then troop members, led by their able leaders, pool donations to buy and wrap gifts for the children. In some troops, the girls earn money by doing chores around their homes, and then donate their earnings. The gifts are delivered to the schools in mid-December and distributed to the grateful families by the social workers.

“While shopping for gifts, the girls almost get to know the children they’re buying for by learning about the things they like. And it gives them a great feeling of accomplishment when they’ve earned the funds themselves to purchase the gifts,” says Rose Marie Jost, who directs the Ossining Girl Scout community with Rosie Foster. “They also learn to feel grateful for what their own families are able to provide to them.”

On the afternoon of December 16, Ossining Girl Scouts will fan out across area nursing homes and child care centers to raise their voices in cheer during their annual Holiday Caroling event, bringing new faces and new voices to lift residents’ spirits. Many troops have been doing the caroling for so many years that they know their songs by heart. They then gather afterward for the scouts’ holiday party, which features pizza and crafts. The scouts also donate hats and gloves for children in need.

“We tell the girls that for many nursing home residents, their daily lives can fall into a regular pattern. So when these happy faces come in and sing to them, it’s provides a cheerful diversion,” says Ms. Foster. One year her troop sang to residents in the community room of a nursing home. But one gentleman was depressed and preferred to stay in his room, fully dressed but lying in his bed. So the nursing home workers brought the troop to him. “As soon as we began singing, we saw his face light up,” Ms. Foster recalls. “By the time we began the second song, he was sitting up on the edge of the bed, smiling. And when we sang the next song, he was standing, laughing, and shaking the girls’ hands. I think we sang our whole repertoire to him. The girls were very touched, and even today they say they’ll never forget the joy in his smile.”

For more information about Ossining Girl Scouts or to join, visit ossininggirlscouts.org or email join@ossininggirlscouts.org.