Blair Marshall and Jilian Dreixler--or Girl Scout Troop 20145, after successfully completing an ambitious project at Whitehill CILA.
Girl Scout Troop 20145 is a remarkable group in many ways. The first feature you cannot help but notice is its size: there are only two members. The second quality you cannot overlook is that what the Troop may lack in numbers, it more that makes up for in sheer dedication and hard work.
Troop 20145 is composed by two remarkable teenagers: Jillian Dreixler and Blair Marshall. They contacted CARC to see if they could perform a volunteer activity at an agency program site. After some choices were discussed, Troop 20145 decided to direct their efforts at the Whitehill CILA, and create a beautiful backyard area—complete with a vegetable garden from which residents may enjoy fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and basil.
The volunteer day was set for June 5, 2010. Yet because of the troop size, Jillian and Blair, accompanied by their mothers, Julie Dreixler and Beth Marshall, visited Whitehill on the 5 consecutive weekends prior to the event, preparing for the actual volunteer day. After their preparatory work was completed, the girls and their mothers would visit with Whitehill residents. Friendships between the girls and Whitehill residents formed quickly.
On the actual volunteer day, the skies opened with a cloudburst. This may have dissuaded many groups from continuing…but not Troop 20145. The girls just worked through the downpour and when the weather cleared, the project had been completed. Whitehill residents had a beautiful backyard with benches, an enclosed garden, hanging baskets of colorful flowers, a bird feeder and a new bed of plants.
We thank troop members, Blair Marshall and Jillian Dreixler for their simply extraordinary level of dedication and diligence. Likewise we thank “moms” and troop leaders, Beth Marshall and Julie Dreixler, along with fellow Girl Scout leader, Kirsten Corbett and “troop dad,” John Dreixler for supporting the girls’ strong efforts every step of the way.