Girl Scouts bring a little luck and a lot of joy to bingo players

For girls who had little or no experience pushing wheelchairs, these Girl Scouts provided outstanding transportation Saturday afternoon.

The Girl Scouts—who all happened to be 6th graders at Forsythe Middle School—joined with Anna’s Kindness to volunteer at Glacier Hills Care & Rehabilitation, transporting those in wheelchairs to and from bingo, helping them play their cards during bingo, and passing out treats to those who didn’t attend.

For many of the residents who play bingo, the trip to the bingo room is a slightly long one due to the large Glacier Hills campus. So the Girl Scouts provided a valuable service to not only the residents, but the weekend staff, by helping the residents get to bingo in a timely fashion.

Once there, some of the Girl Scouts remained with the bingo players. The girls pulled up a chair next to the players that needed a little assistance with their cards, and became fast friends.

And fast winners, apparently.

Eva Beals and her partner had a couple bingos. Leela Aiyagari and her mother Stacey helped their player to a bingo as well.

Elaine Stevenson was extra busy, watching and playing bingo cards for two of the residents at the same time. And Kimber Keil not only helped a resident with bingo, she sang to the players at her table during the games.

Just around the corner, Heather Hale, Helena Myler, Moira Ferguson, and Aurora Cook were making popcorn, placing it into styrofoam cups, and stacking them on carts, where the popcorn joined cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches. Heather’s mom Christine helped coordinate the effort.

Moira and Aurora then wheeled the carts from floor to floor, room to room, and Heather and Helena went into the rooms, pleasantly surprising residents with mid-afternoon surprises. The scout vests and sashes the girls wore were instant conversation pieces.

When the last bingo game, cover-all, concluded, all the girls reconvened outside the bingo room. The players lined up to select a prize and then the Scouts helped push the residents back to their wing at Glacier Hills.

They did such a great job of steering the wheelchairs, one would think the girls were ready for their driver’s license.

“I don’t know about that,” smiled Aurora.

Thank you to Bob and Lisa for helping coordinate a great afternoon of service for the girls, and thanks to Gabby and Glacier Hills for making the opportunity available for Anna’s Kindness volunteers. And thanks to scout leaders Christine and Stacey for connecting with Anna’s Kindness for this event.

#randomactsofanna