Kelcie Peterson and Joanna Mikel recently completed their requirements for the Silver Award for Girl Scouts. The requirements included completing 50 hours of work. They spent this time learning about the Silver Award and investigating ideas for their project. They decided to create 100 backpacks for USC Verdugo Hills Hospital for children being admitted into the Emergency Room. Part of the project meant securing items for the backpacks through donations, shopping with donated money, making fliers, filling the backpacks, and, finally, delivering them to the hospital.  

The girls were passionate about this project as it had personal importance. When Kelcie went in for an emergency appendectomy, there was little to help take her mind off the situation. Kelcie and Joanna hoped these backpacks would help ease the fears of those going into the Emergency Room.  

Each backpack contains a sketchbook, puzzle book, and an assortment of crayons, colored pencils and markers, a pen, pencil, eraser and a letter to the patient along with a picture of the girls. This is a project that Kelcie and Joanna will remember for years.