Girl Scouts complete first drug drop-off
Girl Scout troop creates drug drop-off
AVERILL PARK, N.Y. » The Averill Park Cadette Girl Scout Troop #1523 recently completed their Silver Award, the second highest award Girl Scouts offer.
The goal of their project was a drug-free environment for the Averill Park community. The girls spent 50 hours learning about the effects of drugs and then educating their peers and younger Girl Scouts. Getting to the root of the problem, the girls realized that the community did not have an easily accessible way to dispose of unused or unwanted medications.
They worked closely with Miller Young of Young’s Pharmacy in Averill Park and other local organizations to advocate for and fund a locked drug drop- off box. The box has recently been installed at Young’s Pharmacy.
The girls are asking the community to consider getting their unused and unwanted medications out of their medicine cabinet. By bringing them to Young’s Pharmacy they will be getting them out of the hands of those who may consider ex- perimenting with drugs. They will also be disposing of them properly without effecting the ground water.
The group will be revealing the locked box on June 5 at 6:30pm at Young’s Pharmacy. Local organizations who have donated funds to support the locked box will be in attendance to present their checks. Town board members, county legislators and others will also be in attendance to recognize the Girl Scout Troop for their efforts in combating the opioid crisis.
“The troop assisted us with preparing self care packages for the Homeless in Troy, assisting our members in providing ed- ucational information on the dangers of Opioids at SummerFest, as well as making posters and participating in the Over Dose Awareness Day Gathering last August,” said Kim Murdick of the Nopioates Committee based out of the Averill Park area, which helps to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic. “We are proud of our local youth who are taking their time, compassion and concern to initiate to making their community safer, along with being wonderful role models for their peers. We applaud these young ladies for taking on this large task, and would like to give them credit for their efforts.”