Girl Scouts of Orange County Troop Celebrates Barbie™ by Giving Back To Children in Need
August 22, 2023
LONG BEACH, CA (August 22, 2023) – Inspired by the mega-hit movie turned global phenomenon, Girl Scouts of Orange County Troop 3262 from Los Alamitos has joined the Barbie™ craze and executed a summer service project that even Ken would approve of! The Girl Scouts have been collecting Barbie™ dolls for months, and on Tuesday, August 22nd, the Troop donated 58 brand new Barbie dolls to the patients at MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach.
The Girl Scout mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. And Troop 3262 did just that. With 7 Girl Scouts and two adult Troop leaders, Troop 3262 is small but mighty. Three of the seven girls assisted in the drop-off and personally delivered Barbies™ to patients. Girl Scouts Gabrielle “Gabby” Carlton (15), Ellie Sutherland (15), and Mckinley Eagen (15) were joined by their Troop Co-Leader Emily Carlton in dropping off the Barbies™ at the hospital.
“I’m very proud of our troop. It’s a really exciting project,” Girl Scout Ellie Sutherland said.
This summer, Troop 3262 wanted to do something fun and joyful that benefited others as a community service project. The Barbie™ movie and all the buildup about it proved to be the perfect catalyst and sparked the idea of giving to children who would love to have a Barbie™ to play with when spending time in a hospital. In June, the Girl Scouts began collecting and accepting donations to purchase the iconic dolls. The Girl Scouts specifically asked for Barbies™ expressing every type of diversity- skin tones and body types, including dolls in wheelchairs and with prostheses because the dolls were being donated to hospital patients.
“When we hear about the Barbie movie, we just really wanted to do something for our community, and we wanted to do something for the hospital. We thought it would be such a good idea because there was all this stuff going on about Barbie, so we reached out to all our friends and family, and they brought us a bunch of diverse Barbies,” Girl Scout Gabrielle “Gabby” Carlton said. “We wanted all the kids at the hospital to feel seen and to be able to pick a Barbie that represented them.”
NOTE: ALL HOSPITAL PATIENTS ARE CLEARED. YOUR MEDIA OUTLET HAS PERMISSION TO USE THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO. VIDEO INTERVIEW IS WITH GIRL SCOUT- GABBY CARLTON.
MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach contact: Gabe Quimpo, gquimpo@memorialcare.org, 562.706.7649
Watch Video from CBS News - Girl Scouts of Orange County Barbie Donation
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About Girl Scouts of Orange County
We are 25,000 strong – nearly 15,000 girls and 10,000 volunteers and adult members who bring girls’ dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs reaching girls in every zip code in Orange County, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and thousands of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and take action to affect the issues most important to them. To join, volunteer, or support Girl Scouts of Orange County, visit www.girlscoutsoc.org.
