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Girl Scouts Troop 3459 earns Bronze Award for charity work
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Members of Girl Scout Troop 3459 received the Bronze Award for its work with The Crayon Initiative. Troop members are, front row from left, Delanie Pfund, Elaina Jordan and Cassie Riese; middle row, Maggie Patterson and Kalejh Rose-Parr; and, back row, Prue Strauch, Olivia Levia and Logan Quinn. (Photo supplied)
MONROE - Local Girl Scouts Troop 3459 has earned the third highest honor of the national organization through its work on a creative charitable idea.

The troop gained the Bronze Award after it decided to work with an organization called The Crayon Initiative to help others. Through the initiative, crayons are collected and recycled before being sent to sick children in hospitals.

The Monroe group of 10 includes 11-year-old Maggie Patterson, who enjoys coloring and wanted to share that experience with others.

"We figured it out because interviewers came in from different organizations, and we chose this one," Patterson said. "We wanted to do it because we got to help kids and teens who are in hospitals and don't get to do much."

The Crayon Initiative takes in unwanted crayons throughout the country and remanufactures them to be given to hospitals.

In Monroe, Patterson said the troop has placed collection boxes for residents to drop off the coloring sticks in public places such as the Monroe Public Library, the Parks and Recreation Department, First National Bank, all of the elementary schools and some restaurants, such as Pizza Hut.

Scouts will round up the boxes the first week of June and send all crayons they have collected to the initiative to be repurposed.