Knowing that guests staying at the Hackerman-Patz House on the campus of Lehigh Valley Health Network-Cedar Crest would be away from home and Thanksgiving celebrations with family, Girl Scout Madison Finley, with a bit of help from fellow Scouts of Troop 3580, Trachsville, decided to cook turkey dinners, with all the fixings, so that guests in the "home away from home," could warm them in microwave ovens and enjoy a festive Thanksgiving Day.

The Hackerman-Patz house provides low-cost housing for out-of-town visitors who have family receiving treatment at the hospital, or who come to town for out-patient treatment themselves. The guest house includes microwave and other light cooking equipment for use by the guests. The house can accommodate 20 families and was half-full over the Thanksgiving Holiday period.Madison conceived the good deed service project and enlisted five other Scouts in her troop to cook and package meals in microwaveable containers that guests would only have to heat and eat. The meal included rolls, mashed potatoes, filling, cranberry sauce and vegetables, along with generous helpings of pumpkin pie, that the house guests could prepare easily.Clinton Crable and Beatrice Dunlap, of Jobstown, N.J. were on hand when the Scouts made their delivery on Thanksgiving Eve. They expressed their gratitude at the girls' thoughtfulness. Dunlap has been coming to the Lehigh Valley for medical treatments three times a month for the past year and is a frequent guest at the Hackerman-Patz House.Other Scouts who pitched in to help Madison with the project were: Julia Finley, Ashley Mosier, Angela Heffley, Natalie Mosier and Samantha Shupp. All the girls live in Palmerton and are part of the Troop 3580, sponsored by Jerusalem UCC Church, in nearby Trachsville.