By Lindsay Sauvageau

    Like so many others, when Junior Girl Scouts Gabrielle Deschenes and Elizabeth Abare learned of the recent earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, they could think of nothing else except wanting to help.

    “We saw the pictures on TV and in the newspapers and thought, ‘gosh, we should do something about this,” said Deschenes.

    These two 10-year-old T.C. Passios students began making phone calls.

    They called the American Red Cross, Rep. Jennifer Benson’s office and Sen. John Kerry’s office trying to find out how they could help. According to Beth Deschenes, Gabrielle’s mother, the girls were even willing to go to the top in their pursuits.

    “They wanted to call the President,” she said with a smile. “I was told to find his phone number.”
    In the end, the girls were able to get in touch with an American Red Cross representative, who was able to tell them what to do.

    “They said they wanted us to donate money not clothes or anything else,” said Deschenes. “So we were trying to think of ideas, something we could do or make that wasn’t hard and that people would want.”

    “We brainstormed ideas and came up with Flower Pens. My mom’s friend gave her a flower pen and it seemed like a good idea,” said Deschenes.

    “It was a simple thing we could do,” said Abare. “They are really fun to make.”

    The girls decided they would sell these special floral pens for $5 a piece and donate all of their proceeds to the Red Cross.

    The girls next approached business owners and managers from Michael’s, Staples, BJs and Office Max and asked if they would donate any of the materials they would need to make the pens. Though all of stores were eager to help, it was BJs and Staples that came to the rescue first. Bjs gave the girls a gift card and, according to Deschenes, their contact at Staples simply handed the girls a supply of pens.

    “It was amazing! It’s great to have people help but we weren’t expecting him to just walk up to a shelf and hand us a bunch of pens right away,” said Deschenes.

    According to Debbie Abare and Beth Deschenes, the girls’ mothers, their daughters made each flower pen with exuberance, ease and love. They hand-crafted each pen out of basic materials such as tape and fabric flowers.

    In six hours, spread out over a two day period, the girls were able to make 209 pens.

    “I had to tell them to take a break. They couldn’t stop themselves,” said Debbie Abare. “They had laundry baskets and every time they made a flower they’d turn around and put it in the basket. The next thing I knew the baskets were full!”

    The girls said they were both deeply affected when they heard about the earthquake in the news.
    “We thought, ‘this shouldn’t be happening to them,’” said Deschenes.

    “This shouldn’t happen to anyone,” added Abare.

    “We knew that we had to help,” said Deschenes.

    Currently,  the U.N. estimates one-third of the 9 million people in Haiti need international assistance. With over 200,000 dead, and some 800 to 1,000 aid flights still trying to land, an estimated 2 million people need food, but only 500,000 have received some so far.

    “We want the people in Haiti to get the things they really needed,” said Abare.

    “Food and water and medical supplies,” added Deschenes. “We want to give them hope.”

    In a little over a week the girls have raised over $300 in flower sales with help from the community.

    Abare and Deschenes have  been given the support of their Girl Scout troop, their peers and their families.

    They have been selling their pens at every Blue Knight Basketball Game, at Trudy’s Treats and Elaina’s Gourmet Bakery. They also have signs up in the high school, primary school and T.C. Passios, with pens available in all of the teacher’s offices.

    Their Girl Scout Troop 30755 offered to let the girls sell their flowers while the troop sold Girl Scout Cookies, but Abare and Deschenes said they did not want to take away from cookie sales.

    “We didn’t want people to have to choose between buying a flower or cookies. Both are important,” said Deschenes.

    At school, their friends have both bought flowers and in some cases, when they didn’t have a full $5, they have simply given them the change out of their pockets.

    “It’s hard wanting to help when it’s for something so far away,” said Deschenes. “I wasn’t sure how all of this would go but when I saw people helping it felt really good. People really want to help the people in Haiti.”

    The girls say their experiences so far have left them feeling “amazing.”

    “When I think about this I think ‘wow, this is big, this is something a lot of older people would be doing’ but here I am, a 10-year-old girl and I can do this. It’s an amazing feeling,” said Deschenes.

    “And it shows how other people can help too,” added Abare. “Doing this is fun and it makes you feel good knowing that you’re doing something nice for others.”

    Friends since pre-school, Abare and Deschenes do almost everything together - they are both in Girl Scouts and play basketball and softball together. They take swimming lessons and piano lessons together and when they’re just hanging out, they love to build snow forts, draw and craft - together. Just about the only two extracurricular things that separates the two are Gabrielle’s gymnastics and Elizabeth’s horseback riding.

    Their mothers say they are proud of what Elizabeth and Gabrielle are doing.

    “It’s nice to see them using their people skills, talking to the owners and managers of different businesses and they presented themselves well. They’ve already learned a lot from this and I’m proud of them,” said Debbie Abare. “I’m proud to see them maturing that way.”
Beth Deschenes agreed.

    “We’re both proud. And they were so cute when people started to help. They were busting when they got their first donations. It was like they hit the lottery,” added Deschenes.

    Elizabeth and Gabrielle will be selling their pens this Friday, during the Lunenburg High School Basketball Games starting at 5:30 p.m. and they plan on selling them on Valentine’s Day weekend in between masses at St. Boniface.

    To make a donation or to find out how to get your own Flower Pens, in person or delivered, to help Gabrielle and Elizabeth make a difference for those in need, e-mail bethdeschenes@comcast.net or debbieabare@comcast.net.