Oceanside's Brownie Scout Troop 2049 raises over $1,000 for Lara

“We just needed to help her,” Brownie Scout Troop 2049 leader Christie Lockwood said.

On Oct. 12, her 25-girl troop gathered outside Oceanside’s School No. 3 with an array of baked goods for sale. For an hour and a half they called over fellow students and any passersby so they might make a purchase. By the end, they raised more than $1,000 for Lara, the 14-year-old Oceanside girl who was struck by a car in early September on her way to school and seriously injured.

“It’s the proper thing to do,” Lockwood said. The girls would be receiving Community Service and Give Back merit badges for the effort, but the true reward was the humbling experience of working to benefit a community member in need, she said.

Lara’s accident was a shock for many, but it also spurred action. “We all live in our white picket-fence world,” Lockwood explained. “But the girls got their hands dirty knowing [the money] was going towards a greater cause, not just earning a badge … It was truly humbling to see them understand why they should give back.”