Kutztown Girl Scouts collaborated with Kutztown University’s International Student Organization trick-or-treating on Sunday for non-perishable items to donate to Friend, Inc.
The Girl Scouts from Brownie Troop 1834 and Junior Troop 1369 dressed up in costumes to show their Halloween spirit and were enthusiastic about the experience.
“It’s really nice that we get to collect food to give it to people who don’t have any,” said 8-year-old Emily Sprinkle. “It was a lot of fun, too.”
KU students and Girl Scouts split into groups to canvas Kutztown neighborhoods from 1 to 3 p.m. on Oct. 26.
“We handed out fliers,” said Abby Shanor, Secretary of the ISO. “The idea is that they could leave the note on the door if they wanted us to knock or leave a bag with the note on top if they wouldn’t be home and wanted to help.”
Shanor, a KU senior professional writing student, helped organize the event alongside KU Professor Dr. Robyn Underwood. Mike Mulders, President of the ISO; Lynsey Billet, Head of the Community Outreach Committee and Samantha Brannen, a KU student and Girl Scout leader also had a hand in organizing the event.
The ISO volunteers designed and created the fliers and handed them out to the community in preparation for the event. A large group of students came out to help the Girl Scouts with the food drive.
“We had a huge turn out in the amount of food that we were able to gather,” said Lynsey Billet, a KU junior political science student. “We are really excited about getting off campus and into the community.”
This was the second year for the trick-or-treat food drive and the first year the ISO helped.
As a KU professor, a member of the Kutztown community and a former Girl Scout leader, Underwood was thrilled to unify the students with the community.
“I have two daughters in Girl Scouts,” said Underwood. “I was a leader for four years, but I am just doing fun events this year. As a member of the community, I hear a lot of negativity about the students because all we notice is maybe noise and a mess on Main Street, and I know it’s a lot more than that, so I love to try and get the two together.”
The ISO volunteers were also excited to show the Kutztown community that they are there to help.
“We wanted for the ISO to put our name out there and also to show people that we care about the community,” said Mike Mulders, a KU senior finance and accounting student. “I kind of feel like people think we (KU) are a community by itself, and we wanted to show the rest of the people in Kutztown that we’re willing to help out.”
Samantha Brannen, a KU social work major, founded the event last year as a Girl Scout leader and returned this year to volunteer.
“We got about the same amount of food this year, if not more,” said Brannen. “I think the girls had a little more fun with it this year because they knew what was going on.”
Nine-year-old Sadie Underwood, Robyn’s daughter, also took part in the food drive and felt accomplished afterward.
“I really like this because I feel good helping the community,” she said.
“It’s really respectful of people to donate food, so other people can have healthy families,” added 9-year-old Kiera Jimenez.
All those involved were proud and excited about the turn out of the trick-or-treat event.
“I’m glad we involved the Kutztown students this year,” said Professor Underwood. “We learned from last year that we should warn community members we are coming, and with the fliers, it went more smoothly this year. The students helped a lot. I think it went very well.”
All proceeds from the trick-or-treat food drive will be donated to Kutztown’s Friend, Inc.