Marlboro Girl Scout Troop 1943 organized a collection of cleaning supplies to assist the victims of Hurricane Sandy in Union Beach, NJ.

Even before many of the girls in the troop had power, they were reaching out to their troop leaders to see what they could do to help. The pictures in the newspapers and the coverage on the television and radio was devastating. Food and clothing drives were going on around town, but the girls wanted to do more. What could they do?

The troop decided that they would create flood buckets, which are mop buckets full of cleaning supplies and safety equipment. There were only 7 girls in the troop, all students at Marlboro Middle School, but they knew if they banded together, they could make a difference. They immediately went shopping and purchased many of the supplies. However, to make a bigger impact they sent out flyers to neighbors and friends requesting help. So many people answered the call for help and dropped off supplies. The support the girls received was overwhelming.

Every day we would come home to find mounds of supplies either at a front door or by the garage. It makes me proud to say that we know so many girls, leaders, and parents who – despite their own busy lives – did not hesitate to stop by and drop off supplies for these needy families. The girls worked tirelessly collecting supplies and assembling buckets, making sure each bucket had the necessary items. If items were missing, again they went shopping or had someone pick it up.

We are proud to announce that thanks to the girls’ hard work and the generosity of our friends and sister Girl Scout troops, the girls SURPASSED their original goal and filled 75 mop buckets full of cleaning and safety supplies -- adding more items than we expected to each bucket, plus having over two cases of leftover supplies to donate individually. The buckets and supplies lined up side-by-side went down 3/4 of Troop Leader Lisa Henriques' driveway!

The Union Beach Borough Administrator was on hand to receive the donation and was touched by the gift. Before the drop off was even completed, residents were already picking up the much-needed/wanted supplies.

To see the devastation up close was especially heartbreaking, but to know Marlboro Girl Scouts could help made us feel a little better.

To all of you who helped us with our project, THANK YOU AGAIN! From Girl Scouts: Natalie Delgado, Katrina Henriques, Krystle Henriques, Corinne Lynch, Emily Torrillo, Suada Demirovic, and Nicole King. Troop Leaders: Lisa Henriques & Marianne Delgado.