Longmeadow Girl Scouts raise money, supplies for storm-displaced pets - MassLive.com

Longmeadow Girl Scouts raise money, supplies for storm-displaced pets - MassLive.com

LONGMEADOW -- Amid worldwide efforts to provide aid to storm-wracked parts of the U.S., a local Girl Scout troop geared its efforts to sometimes overlooked victims.

Members of Troop 11659 in Longmeadow raised nearly $400 in a bake sale, and have set out donation bins to collect supplies for pets who were abandoned or lost by their owners, said troop leader Melissa Johnson.

"I just asked them, 'What do you want to do (as a first project)?' and they said, 'We want to do something for the animals,'" Johnson said. "The girls heard about it, and they wanted to help."

Members of the troop held a Girl Scout Cookieless bake sale in front of A.W. Brown's pet store in East Longmeadow on Sept. 23, Johnson said. The scouts also placed bins inside A.W. Brown's, and Longmeadow schools, so that people can donate pet supplies, Johnson said.

While they're not yet certain who they will donate money and supplies to, Troop 11659 members are thinking about sending money to Animal Care Center on the US Virgin Island of St. John, Johnson said. Supplies might be sent to an animal rescue in Wilbraham, which has taken in animals displaced from the storms.