Castle Pines Girl Scout Junior Troop 2687 delivered cookies to the Tennyson Center for Children. Pictured above left to right: Rachelle M., Caroline C., Rachael S., Claire Y. and Madeline L. Not pictured: Campbell D. and Jasmine T.

Article and photos submitted by Juli Yeater

Community service is important to Castle Pines Girl Scout Junior Troop 2687, which is comprised of fifth graders, including two girls from American Academy and five girls from Timber Trail Elementary. Recently, Troop 2687 participated in two sweet events that benefited others.

Troop 2687 collected more than 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookie donations during their annual fundraising event. On April 1, the girls delivered half of the cookie donations to the staff and families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Denver. The cookies will be delivered to Sky High Hope camp, a one-week summer camp for children with cancer and their siblings, sponsored by the Ronald McDonald House Charities. The scouts delivered the remainder of their cookie donations to the Tennyson Center for Children, a residential facility that provides treatment, educational and advocacy services to abused, neglected and at-risk children between the ages of 15 and 18.

“I’m very proud of the girls in our troop for their enormous sense of empathy and generosity toward children in the metro area who are experiencing personal challenges,” said Juli Yeater, the leader of Troop 2687. “My co-leader, Tonia Smallwood, and I feel privileged to be able to foster altruism and kindness in our girls. We’re a small troop with plans to continue to do big things in our community.”

Troop 2687 held its third annual “He & Me Cake-Off” competition. At the culmination of the event, the cakes were donated to local first responders in Castle Pines and Castle Rock.

The girls collected cookie donations from friends and family members and solicited donations from their cookie booth customers at the Castle Pines King Soopers and Walgreen’s locations. Troop 2687 would like to thank the generous residents of Castle Pines for helping them to place a smile on the faces of the cookie donation recipients at the Ronald McDonald House and the Tennyson Center for Children.

On Saturday, April 2, Troop 2687 held its third annual “He & Me Cake-Off” competition. This event provided an opportunity for the fathers and daughters of the troop to spend an afternoon of fun together. Additionally, they were able to partake in serving our local community. Each participating father/daughter team chose their cake theme, submitted their idea to troop leadership, baked a cake together the day prior to the event and then brought their undecorated cake and decorating supplies to the event, which was held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. The father/daughter teams were not allowed to seek advice or assistance from anyone prior to or during the event. The teams were allowed 90 minutes to decorate their cakes at the event.

Awards were presented for first, second and third place, People’s Choice, Scout’s Choice, Tastiest Treat and Most Creative. At the culmination of the event, the cakes were donated to local first responders in Castle Rock and Castle Pines.

Troop 2687 will continue to weave community service into events and projects.