Girl Scouts worked hard to pack bags of gifts — purchased with help from North Shore Bank — to donate to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission.

Last month, Shorewood area branch manager AVP Shannon Weber helped a local Girl Scout troop make it a happier Christmas season for Milwaukee children in need.

As part of earning their Making Choices patches, the scouts talked about the differences between wants and needs and learned that some families lack the resources to meet all of their children’s needs, much less take care of their wants. In response, the troop identified gifts that other local kids could use and would like, and put together gift bags to be donated to the nonprofit Milwaukee Rescue Mission for distribution. The bags included necessities like socks, pants, T-shirts, and toothbrushes and toothpaste, along with some more fun surprises.

For our ongoing Bank on Kindness initiative, North Shore Bank and Shannon helped fund the gift-bag project. Shannon also surprised the young scouts with their own bags of North Shore Bank goodies, including a piggy bank, sunglasses, and a plush Seymour Savings.

“The girls had a bit of a hard time understanding why they couldn’t keep some of the items being donated, but also truly understood it was to help others,” Shannon said. “When they finished putting everything together and then received the North Shore Bank bag with goodies inside, they were so so excited.”

She added: “I think my favorite part was seeing these girls be given an opportunity to learn how they can help others. And I appreciate North Shore Bank giving me the opportunity to help make it happen.”