Philanthropist Badge - saving pennies!

Hi Parents!

Girls will now be working on a Philanthropist badge and we have some exciting ideas for each meeting to come!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  -Margaret Mead, author, speaker and anthropologist popular in the 1960s & 1970s.

To start, girls learned about "Penny Power":

• In 2010, kids collected 2,765,622 pennies to help protect panthers, rebuild marshes in the Gulf of Mexico, and save birds called plovers through the Audubon Society's Pennies for the Planet.
• During the 2009-2010 school year, kids working with an organization called Common Cents collected $756, 273 in a "penny harvest".  The money went to women's shelters, animal rights organizations, community gardens and senior centers, and neighborhood service projects.  Common cents was started in 1991 when  4 year old Nora Gross teamed up with her father to figure out how to help a homeless man in her neighborhood!
• The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Pennies for Patients runs a 3-week program each year where kids can collect change in honor of a local student who survived blood cancer.  Since 1994, more than 10 million kids across the country have raised millions of dollars for the program.

Brownies also learned the definition of HUNGER.
Hunger is the physical sensation of desiring food.  When politicians, relief workers and social scientists talk about people suffering from hunger, they usually refer to those who, for sustained periods, are unable to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs.

Brownies then had a sheet with various pictures on it.  They had to circle what they thought were "wants" and "needs".  We discussed and learned there can be a fine line between the two.  One Brownie mentioned that a cell phone is a "need" because if there is an emergency, you would need to call for help.  We talked about how technology has certainly made our lives easier, however, if your basic needs are not being met, then do you need a cell phone?

Needs:

In actuality, you only need four things to survive:

1. A roof over your head
2. Enough food and water to maintain your health
3. Basic health care and hygiene products
4. Clothing (just what you need to remain comfortable and appropriately dressed).

Everything that goes beyond this (a big house, name-brand clothes, fancy foods and drinks, a new car) is a want.  A need is something you have to have.  A want is something you would like to have.

We would like to have each girl bring pennies to each meeting during the Philanthropist badge.  These can be pennies they have saved, pennies they find on the ground, or pennies that family members would like to contribute.  Towards the end, the troop will vote on which local charity we will donate our pennies to.  In the meantime, you could help your daughter research various, local charitable organizations.

Thanks for helping your girls!