Park Rapids Girl Scout Troop 407 took part in a colorful project on March 19, spreading a message of "community, kindness and gratitude."
According to a social media post by the Park Rapids Area Library, the National Hopeful Neighborhood Project is inspired by Fred Rogers, late of educational TV’s “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and his passion to share kindness, respect and beauty.
Girl Scouts joined neighbors across the nation in an online community, sharing ideas on how to show appreciation for their neighborhood, logging their activity at the library and putting a pin on the project’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” map.
“The girls shared their talents, energy and enthusiasm when they carpeted our entrance” with sidewalk chalk, said library assistant Liz Shaw. “The art they chose for their creations mirrored Fred Rogers’ messages of kindness, respect and beauty – like the number 143.
“Mr. Rogers shared that number with his audience. The one stands for ‘I’ because it has one letter. Four stands for ‘love’ because it has four letters. And three stands for ‘you’ because it has three letters. ‘I love you’=143. See?”
ADVERTISEMENT
Also, Shaw said, the girls watched a short video on Mr. Rogers and decorated posters. “The Scouts earned a badge for their generous and giving spirit that day,” Shaw said.
Rachel Eberhart and Brandi McMahon are co-leaders of Troop 407.
Eberhart said Shaw reached out to her, asking whether the Troop could help the library celebrate the Hopeful Neighborhood Project, decorating the sidewalk outside the main entrance in preparation for an event on the following day.
“It was all about being kind to each other,” said Eberhart, “which is exactly what Troop 407 is trying to be – kind, part of the community and giving back.
“The girls were excited to go. They’re young girls, so any time that we can do art is right up their alley, for sure. But they were really excited to be able to help support the library and Mr. Rogers. We talked about him, and we talked a lot about love and being kind and being compassionate to your neighbors. It just tied really well into what we’re trying to teach these girls.”
Eberhart acknowledged that the girls didn’t know who Mr. Rogers was before the project, but they are familiar with “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” a similar program of their era. She said they now know who Mr. Rogers was and what he stood for, certainly better than the day before.
For more information, visit https://wontyoubemyneighborday.com/ .
The Trust Project
