West, TX Update

Fellow Girl Scouts, At this time, we know that leaders in West are safe and that, to our knowledge, so are our girl members. We have been in touch with the Service Unit Director and right now they are holding tight until they can assess what is needed.

We have been getting a lot of questions about how we can help the community of West as they deal with the fallout from last week’s tragedy. The outpouring of support has been incredible but right now we are getting the message that the community is overwhelmed with donations. Presently they are still grieving, planning funerals and trying to get into their homes. We know that many funds have been set up to collect cash and gift card donations but until we vet the organizations collecting the donations we will not put out this information. Unfortunately, scams abound in these situations. After talking with the area SUDs and the Mayor’s office, we are going to wait and see what the community needs in the coming weeks and then plan our response. We are looking at some type of project around gift cards and if we finalize that we will let everyone know.

If you are in the Waco area, there is a need for volunteers to sift through donations at the Disaster Warehouse. If someone is interested in helping they can call Captain Debbie Alderson on her cell at 254-733-2680. The warehouse is located at 101 Apron Dr., Waco 76705, which is on the TSTC Campus.

I will keep everyone appraised of any new developments. In the meantime, prayers are very welcome and needed.

Feel free to share this information with your volunteers as we know they are concerned and anxious to help, like the true Girl Scouts they are.

-Carol Keierleber, GSCTX Interim CEO