BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Some Broken Arrow Girl Scouts with a hunger to help started something special in the heart of their hometown. The Broken Arrow Blessing Box was a project that the now High School Seniors started back in 2017.
"I was in the fifth grade," says Aubyn Sagely.
This green box began as the vision of a group of eleven-year-olds from Girl Scout Troop 1482. "It was a bronze award project to help sustain homelessness and the hungry in Broken Arrow. To help provide meals and food for them when they need it," says Ashtyn Sagely.
The Broken Arrow Blessing Box has a simple mission. "If you need it, you can take it, and if you want to give, you can give," says Ashtyn.
It's a free food pantry created by kids. "We learned a lot of construction skills and leadership skills working together as a team," says Aubyn.
And this team has sparked community action. More than 300 groups and individuals have donated in the six years since the Blessing Box began. "We put up a Facebook page and got several donations and drives. We found organizations to help and donate monthly and weekly, so over time, they continuously give," says Ashtyn.
The Girl Scouts sometimes find thank you notes alongside the non-perishable cans, soups, and sauces. "They say how much the Blessing Box has helped them because they did not know how to put dinner on that table that night and just being able to feed their families, so it was a huge blessing to have the box," says Aubyn.
This past year, the Troop's next generation, the Cadettes, rebuilt the box because it had weathered over the years and needed an update.
"We fixed the roof so that when the rain got on it, it would still be good; we also made it more sturdy, and we also made it bigger, with more space in it for more food," says Cadette Aven Carr.
This new, improved Blessing Box took all summer for a team of four to build. It was installed in August.
"If it's full, it makes me happy that someone is coming and putting stuff in it, and if it's kind of empty, it makes me happy that people are using it," says Cadette Paisley Gartner.
Laila Carr James, a Cadette, adds, "We know it's working. I have been here a couple of times that they have some and some some, and it's a relieving feeling to know you are helping."
The Broken Arrow Blessing Box is located in the heart of Broken Arrow and is a gift from the heart of some Broken Arrow young ladies.
"It just puts a smile on their face- and when I see other people happy, it makes me happy," says Aubyn. "It's super important that the box stays up after I go to college, and knowing that the younger girls are coming up and wanting to help the community, it's such a big place in my heart," says Ashtyn.
You can find the blessing box off of 1st between College and Detroit. If you have a group who would like to help donate to the Blessing Box, you can sign up and find more information here.
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