On Saturday, April 30, 2016, Girl Scouts from 6 troops and their families went to Sandy Point State Park in Arnold, MD for a beach clean-up service project. This project was started by Cadette Troop 401 because they had a desire to find a service project that would help the environment. After a discussion about where they wanted to do the project, the girls decided that they really wanted to help a park and a beach. Sandy Point immediately came to mind and they requested permission from Maryland DNR (Department of Natural Resources) for an assignment at Sandy Point. Park Ranger Nancy Gardner helped schedule the clean-up. Due to the size of the park, Troop 401 thought the project could potentially be more than they could handle themselves, so they reached out to all of the Service Units in Odenton, Severn, and Gambrills and recruited 5 additional troops to assist with the clean-up.

Everyone arrived at the park at 9am and was greeted by the Rangers with trash bags, gloves, and pickers. After a quick picture, everyone set out to clean up the beach, picnic areas, and marina. Three hours and countless bags of trash later, we could definitely see that we had made a difference in the park! A few girls stayed and enjoyed lunch at the park before heading home. The rain held out for the event and the park was very grateful for the dedication of the Girl Scouts.

Girls and families from troops 401, 714, 1666, 1398, 1702, and 4905 from Odenton, Severn, and Gambrills cleaning up the beach at Sandy Point State Park.

This blog post was submitted by Tracy Cannan of Troops 401 (Leader) and 1902( Co-Leader).