Several Santiam Canyon wildfire victims will have a warmer winter thanks to a Stayton Girl Scout.
A member of Troop 21890, Mackenzie Grimes volunteered last year at Anthony Hall, the Santiam Integration Team distribution center, after the wildfires cost so many to lose their homes.
“I was able to help the victims, hear their stories, and what their goals were after the fire,” Grimes said. “I decided to make blankets so they would have comfort, security and something of their own.”
Grimes took a little over 50 hours to complete the 21 blankets. On each one, she included a Dr. Seuss quote for inspiration.
“I got the material from Joann’s,” she added. “The cost of the material was about $450. My family did pay for
some of it.”
With the project, Grimes completed her Silver Award, the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. The award requires girls to go on a Cadette journey, identify issues they care about, build their own Silver Award team or go solo, explore their community, pick and develop a Take Action project, make and put a plan into motion, and reflect by sharing their stories and celebrate.
According to Girl Scouts of the USA, earning the award puts these Girl Scouts among “an exceptional group of girls who have used their knowledge and leadership skills to make a difference in the world.”
The 14-year-old Stayton High School freshman said making the blankets for wildfire victims made her feel as if she was helping them in a small way.
“It also made me feel like I was supporting our community,” said Grimes, who has volunteered for many types of events. “Some repeat events were the Stayton Relay for Life, Christmas Storybook Land, Letter Carrier event
and for SIT.”
Grimes received a lot of “great job” messages, including “way to set an example,” “an amazing job,” “hard work pays off,” and “this will make a difference in the lives of others.” One response was, “Wow, that’s a lot of blanketies!” and another, “Those can be so time consuming! Super job!”
Grimes has been a Girl Scout for three years and as of Oct. 1, graduated from Cadette to Senior in the organization. She is the daughter of Melanie Stigen and John Grimes, and has two older brothers, Sean and Dakota. She enjoys volleyball, listening to music, skateboarding as well as volunteering.
“I’ve lived in Stayton my whole life,” Grimes said. “I want to be a teacher.”
