Brownies dig to make a difference

Hannah Chalk, 7, sat by the flower bed in the Saturday afternoon sun with a pansy in one hand, digging a hole with a trowel in her other hand.

Shelby Manley, 8, was standing in the muddy bed in her bare feet, but her hands were encased in large green rubber gardening gloves.

"That's all right, because I'm digging the holes with my hands," Shelby assured the adults nearby.

The youngsters were among 11 Brownie Scouts from Troop 211 of Pleasant Valley who came down to Carson City to brighten up the yard at the Frost Yasmer Independent Living Center on East Fifth Street.

The 3-year-old center provides low-cost apartments and individualized support services to people with a variety of disabilities, ranging from spinal injuries or brain damage to debilitating chronic diseases. With the shared support services provided by the center, many of the residents work or attend school.

"We were down here last Christmas, too. We made wreathes and helped the residents hang them on their doors," troop leader Jeanne Ruefer said. "We've kind of adopted them."

Saturday the Brownies were planting a flowering pear tree and lots of pansies. They had also brought along bags of personal care products, donated by Canned Foods Grocery Outlet, to give to the residents.

Once the troop had excavated a small pit in the lawn for the pear tree and planted some of the pansies at its base, they swarmed across a flower bed to practice their new flower planting skills. Damp soil covered many small hands and crept into a mouth or two.

The youngsters took turns hauling the heavy watering can to soak the new plantings.

"My flower needs a drink of water," a small voice called.

"We need to be reflooded," someone else piped up.

"We need to be REAL flooded." Now they were having too much fun.

Saturday's activities were in honor of national Make A Difference Day, Ruefer said, though the troop's project had been delayed a week because last Saturday was dominated by the Nevada Day Parade.

Troop 211 will be back to the center soon because the Brownies are teaming with Canned Foods Grocery Outlet to run a food drive to help the residents.

Belinda Chalk, another troop leader, said many of the residents live on fewer than $500 a month so their resources often are low by the end of a month.

The center is operated by Accessible Space Inc., a nonprofit organization that has been establishing and operating such accommodations for 20 years, site supervisor Deidre Manley said.

The center is named after Del Frost, administrator of the Nevada Rehabilitation division from 1969 to 1989, and Maynard Yasmer, who has been the division's administrator since 1997 and has served in the division for 37 years.

All Accessible Space facilities are named after people who have made significant contributions to the well-being of the disabled, Manley said.