Work of few brings many donations

It was a about a year ago that Kathryn Rogers, 13, decided to get rid of most of her stuffed animals.

After reading a small advertisement in a magazine, she decided to send them to Operation Toy Box, a national organization that collects toys to give to victims of natural disasters.

This year, Kathryn will be sending more than 100 stuffed animals, books and games to the organization.

Kathryn and two friends from her Girl Scout Troop No. 180, decided to collect toys for their service project to earn their silver badge.

What started out as a small project among the girls, grew to a schoolwide effort at Carson Middle School.

"We were thinking that most of us are just growing out of our stuffed-animal-age and we could give them away," said Briana Valley, 13, one of the organizers.

The girls circulated fliers, calling for classmates to bring in new or lightly used stuffed animals, toys and books.

"We got more than we thought we'd get," Kathryn said. "At the beginning, I wasn't sure if we were going to get much but everybody helped out."

The next step is to sort through the animals, clean them then ship them to the Operation Toy Box headquarters in North Carolina.

Despite the having to juggle the project with soccer, choir, band and other activities, the girls said it is worth the effort.

"We feel very grateful," said organizer Lara Contreras, 13. "All the kids that wouldn't have this stuff will get it."

Kathryn estimated that the trio will spend 15 hours completing the project.

You Can Help:

To donate money to pay for shipping costs, call Sally Rogers at 883-5931.