Local Girl Scouts recently marked their founder's birthday by ensuring that local homeless children will have their own, brighter birthday celebrations.

Lehighton Girl Scouts in Daisy Troop 32202 and Brownie Troop 33 gathered the supplies to create nearly two dozen birthday bags for Family Promise. The bags were filled with boxed cake mix, frosting, a baking pan, candles, napkins and utensils - all of the supplies necessary to make a child smile on their birthday. Each girl also enclosed a handmade card."If there is a family at Family Promise, and a member of that family has a birthday, they can give them a bag," said Troop 33 leader Karen Shaffer.She asked the young girls, ranging from kindergarten to second grade, to imagine what it might be like for a child to celebrate their birthday while homeless."You could ask your family for a birthday cake or a party on your birthday, but a lot of these families aren't able to do that, aren't able to really celebrate," she said. "It's a simple thing. Now these families will be able to celebrate in some small way."Troop leaders came up with the idea for the service project after discussing ways to make this year's celebration of Girl Scouts' founder, Juliette Gordon Low, more meaningful for their Scouts. Many troops mark her birthday, Oct. 31, each year with a special service project or activity.Girl Scouts of the USA was founded in 1912 by Low in Savannah, Georgia, after she was inspired by a meeting with Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts.Low was born in 1860. She died in 1927, leaving behind a legacy and foundation that serves millions of young girls and alumnae throughout the world.Family Promise of Carbon County is a nonprofit organization that offers short-term housing and assistance to homeless families in our area. Families are provided with meals, a place to sleep, and the tools they need to work toward self-sufficiency. The average family stay is 90 days.