Scouts Collect Dolls for Library Donation on Road to Silver

American Girl dolls have been treasured play toys for kids since the mid-1980s, but their higher price point can make them inaccessible for some.

A trio of Council Bluffs Girl Scouts are doing their part to help local library users have some fun with American Girl dolls.

Sophia Danker and Faith Lindquist, both 12-year-old Kirn Middle School seventh-graders, as well as Abraham Lincoln High School freshman Jasmine Shields, 14, are members of Girl Scout Troop 40341. The three are Cadettes in their troop, and they’re working together to earn the Girl Scouts Silver Award.

The Silver Award is the second-highest accomplishment a Girl Scout can achieve, and it is earned by coming up with and completing a project that will create lasting change in their community. The project can be a group or solo effort.

Danker, Lindquist and Shields remember their days of growing up with dolls, and they wanted to make sure kids in the area can enjoy the same experiences.

Danker said Tara Slevin, vice president and chief philanthropy director for the Jennie Edmundson Foundation, is a family friend, and she reached out to see about acquiring a bald American Girl doll. She said some kids may be going through cancer treatments or used to, and they might find a representational doll to be comforting. Slevin thought that would be a perfect job for the hospital’s cancer team, and she connected them with Danker.

Michelle Kaufman, director of oncology service at Methodist Jennie Edmundson, said the Cancer Center team was inspired by the girls’ project. Quickly after learning about it, the entire team was onboard to donate to the cause.

“Every person on our team donated,” she said. “Once I shared this heartwarming story with just a couple people it spread to the entire Cancer Center. Immediately, people were stepping up to pitch in.”

The Daily Nonpareil: Scouts Collect Dolls for Library Donation on Road to Silver