Local Delaware Girl Scout Delivers Thoughtful Gift Packages to New Mothers and Babies at OhioHealth Grady Family Birthplace

With a heart full of kindness and a mission to make a difference, one local Girl Scout in Delaware brought joy to new families and associates at OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital. Girl Scout, Marisa McFarland, delivered thoughtful gift packages to Grady Family Birthplace.

“It means a lot to me because I love babies, I love moms, I love helping people,” said McFarland. “When I’m 12, I’m going to get my own babysitting business.”

Marisa started her Girl Scouts group in Delaware, Ohio, when she was in kindergarten.

“It really inspired me to go to Girl Scouts because I love going camping, I love doing all this stuff with my brother, but I wanted to do girls just having girl stuff,” McFarland said.

Now, at 11-years-old, she’s what they call a “junior” in Girl Scouts.

“I used to be a Daisy, then I moved up to Brownie through a bridging ceremony,” said McFarland. “Then from Brownies, I bridged up to Junior. You spend two years in every level.”

As a junior, she’s a leader in the group alongside five other girls. The group spends time together doing fun activities, but also a lot geared towards helping the community. The junior girls broke out into three groups and completed three big projects to help others. One of the projects, led by McFarland and her friend in the group, included choosing Grady Memorial Hospital.  

“We have an adult leader in our group, that goes to peoples’ houses and helps them breastfeed,” said McFarland. “She has ties to Grady Memorial and said, oh you should go to Grady.”

While at Grady, McFarland had a chance to talk with the nurses on the floor. She explained her role in Girl Scouts and asked them questions.

“They were really nice, they cared a lot about why I did this, but the most thing that I noticed is that they were just super nice,” McFarland said.

She feels sharing that kindness is a ripple effect and can change the world.

“It is really important to me actually; I always try to help out with people,” said McFarland. “You can figure out a way to help your community, do whatever you can to help your community like pick up trash on World Day or before World Day or any day really. Just try to help the community more than just once.”

She’s also hoping her packages and the intent behind them encourage families to have their sons or daughters in a Scout group.

To learn more about Girl Scouts, click here.