Girl Scout Troop 4730 creates service project for Portland parks

Girl Scout Troop 4730 is a group of middle and high school students who are active in sports, band, choir, theater, clubs and Scouting. They have been working together within the community for years.

The troop is donating and installing mailboxes into four local parks. The mailboxes will serve as lost and found locations and will also contain simple first aid kits to aid in treatment of cuts and scrapes.

“We were challenged with earning our Silver Award this year,” said Charlotte Sheehan,14. “The Silver Award project is meant to encourage teamwork, communication and service to our community.”

“We had brainstormed a lot of ideas on the best ways to making a difference and lasting impact on our community,” said Ella Hassett,13.

“A few years ago, while working on the bronze award, we had spent a lot of time cleaning the local parks and river trail,” said Aubrey Watson, 14. “We noticed a lot of lost items like gloves, toys, and clothing.”

“We settled on using mailboxes as lost and found locations in the park,” said Jorja McFarland, 14. “We thought it would be a great way to shelter any lost and found items as well as providing the community help in minor medical issues.”

“We’ve all gotten hurt at the playground and needed a bandage,” said Evelyn Johnston, 14.

“We presented our project to the City Council in the winter. We had outlined our materials, budget and timeline,” said Rylan Johns, 14. “The city then requested we meet with the Parks and Recreation committee in order to obtain approval.”

“They were so nervous presenting to the two groups but did a fabulous job,” said co-leaders Erica Sheehan and Jill Watson. “Projects like this help the girls build on so many different skills.”

The troop had initially planned on requesting local businesses for sponsorships in funding the mailboxes but found they were able to fully fund the project on their own thanks to fall product and cookie sale earnings.

“Once we had approval we reset our timeline and got to work building the needed posts,” said Johnston.

“We had a lot of fun painting and assembling the boxes,” said Claire Reynolds, 15.

“So if you find a lost item in a local park or on the river trail please place it in one of the boxes,” said Sophie Robbe, 15. “Then possibly, you can also share it to the local community group on social media.”

The boxes will be located in Community Lake Park, Brush Street Park, Alton Park and Bogue Flats Recreation Area. Each box will have room to hold lost items. They will also contain a simple first aid kit and instructions. The troop plans to make regular checks on the boxes to restock as needed.