Girl Scouts of Rhode Island recently presented a check for $6,415.21 to the Gabrielle Dinsmore Heart & Hope Fund, which the troop selected as the beneficiary of its 2013 Service Project of the Year. The amount, almost $600 more than last year’s donation, was raised through cookie sales.
The organization, named after Executive Director Louise Dinsmore’s daughter, who passed away in 2010 at age 3 due to complications of the disease, provides support to children and families living in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. It has since formed Gabrielle’s Heart Camp, the only camp in Rhode Island exclusively for children with congenital heart defects and heart disease.
“Being selected as the Service Project of the Year from the Girl Scouts of Rhode Island, a distinguished 100-year-old organization, to support our mission is a testament to the important work we are doing in our local community to make a difference,” said Dinsmore.
The project teaches girl scouts about philanthropy and gives troops the option to donate a portion of their cookie sale proceeds to a community service project of their choice each year. •
