Twenty Girl Scouts, team leaders and parents from Troop #10233 recently renovated two family dorms at the Hollywood Broward Outreach Center in an attempt to make them feel more like home for the homeless and needy residents living in the rooms. In the process, the Girl Scouts received their Silver Award, the highest honor they can receive at the Cadette level.
Jennifer Thonus, the troop’s leader, said she recognized the importance of motivating the youth to help brighten the lives of the less fortunate.
“I’ve been working with [Broward Outreach Center] for years,” Thonus said. “I waited until the girls in our troop got old enough to understand the plight of the homeless. When they were ready, I brought them to a volunteer orientation. After my daughter saw how few possessions the homeless have my daughter said, ‘I have so much. I never knew I had so many things.’”
The Girl Scouts painted both rooms at the Center, a nonprofit organization that provides food, shelter, clothing, education, job training, spiritual direction and long-term rehabilitation programs in Miami, Hollywood and Pompano; set up new dressers, night stands, lamps and rugs; hung new valences over the windows, as well as art work; and provided homemade blankets and sheets for each bed. Thonus said that the Girl Scouts and their parents donated money to purchase items for the renovation and some items came from donations from chain stores.
“It was a blessing to have our community come to BOC and ‘adopt a room’ for our families,” said MaryAnn Diamond, director of Social Services at Broward Outreach Centers. “It was overwhelming to see a homeless mom and her child walk in their room and watch their faces light up.” 
She said she could see a difference in the hearts of the families at the Center.
“This act of kindness is priceless. It brings them hope for a new beginning – hope that a brighter future is obtainable, and reassures these families that everything is going to be OK.”
