Girl Scouts 'give a crock'

Members of Girl Scout Troop 20045 are putting their handwriting skills to work while helping others. The girls are making recipe books for recipients of the Give a Crock program, an outreach project of St. Marks United Methodists Church. "They've done some work in the past where they filled up the Little Free Pantry and the (City) Mission. But we talked about this is a way that they were trying to make some sustainable help to teach people how to do this on their own," said Rachael Helms, who is one of the troop leaders along with Nicole Coughlin and Jenn Buddie. The girls are all eighth graders at Liberty-Benton School. Helms said most of them have been together since kindergarten and include Amelia Helms, Audrey Reed, Charlotte Beard, Cheyanne West, Lucy Coughlin, Madi Teders, Olivia Karas and Taylor Shaw. Give a Crock provides a monthly recipe, package of ingredients and a slow cooker so those in need can make meals at home. Recipients currently are staying at Hope House. The program was started earlier this year by Barb Lockard and is based on one operated by Tikkun Farm, a 3.5-acre farm in the neighborhood of Mount Healthy, Cincinnati. Lockard's sister, who is a driver for the farm's program, suggested that Lockard start a similar project in Findlay. She partnered with St. Marks and its United Women in Faith group. "The Crockpot program is going very well, but we are not due to add more clients until May or June," said Lockard. "At that time, we will have additional tasks for the troop, possibly including compiling meal ingredients, deliveries, etc. We are so appreciative of their help." For now, the troop is busy writing out recipes, said Helms. "So we just heard about it at church, and the church has been nice about letting us in there to use their kitchen and facility for other things. It was kind of a nice way to do something for the church," she said. Every month or so, the girls write the recipes for dishes like Comforting Crockpot Chicken and Beef and Noodles on cards that can be inserted into an album. "We just thought it would be nice to be handwritten, something personal," said Helms. "We'll just give the recipe cards to the people and then they can add them. So hopefully as they go, then they'll have a book full." Inside a note reads, "These recipe books were prepared just for you by Girl Scout Troop 20045," along with the names of the girls. This is just one of the service projects the girls have done. They also made blankets and toys for dogs at the Humane Society and SPCA of Hancock County and worked with the Hancock Park District to clean up the McKinnis House at Litzenberg Memorial Woods. They made wreaths and washed windows at Legacy Village of St. Catherine's, packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child, picked up litter at Maumee Bay State Park and baked cookies for the City Mission. For fun, a camping trip is being planned this summer at Red River Gorge in Kentucky. The girls, who are currently Cadettes, will become Senior Girl Scouts this summer.