Persistence pays off in creation of Merrimack drive-through pantry
Samantha Laflotte of Merrimack earns Girl Scout Gold Award with project
November 15, 2023
MERRIMACK, NH – Sometimes a goal is a fairly direct path to reach, and other times, it’s a lesson in persistence and adaptation. Gold Award Girl Scout Samantha Laflotte not only reached her goal of helping the hungry in her town eat, she also had to deal with pandemic-related issues that almost tanked her project. Laflotte earned the highest honor possible for a Girl Scout in high school with her project, Merrimack NH Drive-Through Food Pantry.
Laflotte, 17, of Merrimack, first thought about providing food to those in need when she was in eighth grade. She knew that both young people in school and older populations were experiencing food insecurity, so she first envisioned opening an End 68 Hours of Hunger program in her town. That program provides food to children to get them through the weekend when they don’t have access to school-based nutrition programs.
Then COVID-19 hit. She pivoted to help her community by making face masks for her Silver Award, producing 3-D printed masks that contained a filter that could be changed out. It was a tough few years for her and her class at the Academy of Science and Design and her community as a whole.
When she returned to her original idea, overwhelmed school staff were unable to help her start a 68 Hours program, but that didn’t stop her. She was pointed toward a program called Laura’s World Fund, and pivoted once again to make her vision come to life as a drive-through food pantry.
“In the beginning, the pantry was open once a month,” Laflotte wrote in her final report on her project. “As I was able to secure more sponsorship and donations, the food pantry expanded to twice a month. There is no requirement to prove food insecurity but it is requested that people be residents of Merrimack, NH. In response to feedback, have since added a once-per-month toiletry bag that includes things such as deodorant, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, feminine products, and toilet paper.”
Katie Gagnon of Laura’s World Fund said her project is both needed and growing in popularity.
“She has handed out up to 31 bags on a given night,” said Gagnon. “That is 31 families that were helped all because of her hard work and dedication. The more word has gotten out, the more people are asking about it.”
Currently, she’s collecting donations that are stored in her garage and in a church garage, but she hopes to turn the drive-through pantry work over to a local group that does community service.
Laflotte said she gained a new perspective on hunger as she worked on this effort.
“Judging from Nashua's End 68 Hours of Hunger, I knew logically that there must be some need in Merrimack,” she said. “It would not make sense for it to only be in Nashua, but at the same time I had no sense of how big a need it was. I had no numbers to back that up. It was just me assuming that there's probably need. So when I actually got to sending out surveys and actually starting this thing up and seeing how many people show up, it is crazy how much of that there is, without most people even knowing.”
Laflotte sharpened many valuable life skills as she worked on the food pantry, including communication, presentations to persuade people, and figuring out the logistics of gathering, storing, and distributing the food. Despite the official count of over 80 hours of work over several years, she recommends the experience to any Girl Scout who wants to make the world a better place.
“It really does encapsulate a lot of my Girl Scout experiences because it involved volunteer work heavily, which I have been doing throughout all of my Girl Scout experience, and it involved coordinating and budgeting and all sorts of different skills that girls have been honing throughout their Girl Scout experience,” she said. “It's such a great opportunity to be able to do something like that.”
Laflotte has been a Girl Scout since kindergarten, and has enjoyed selling cookies, taking trips, and her many community service projects. She’s also a brown belt in Kenpo and Enshudo martial arts; and an avid FIRST robotics participant. She is in National Honor Society and received a certificate of merit from the Society for Women Engineers. She is currently finishing her senior year at the Academy for Science and Design and is applying to colleges where she intends to pursue further education in the robotics field.
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Gold Award Girl Scouts don’t just change the world for the better, they change it for good. The Gold Award is earned by girls in grades 9–12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in developing sustainable solutions to local, national, and global challenges. Since 1912, Girl Scouts have answered the call to drive lasting, impactful change. They earn college scholarships, demonstrate high educational and career outcomes, and are active in their communities.
Samantha Laflotte has answered the call to drive lasting, impactful change, and her Gold Award is a testament to her remarkable dedication to improving her community and the world.
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About the Girl Scout Gold Award
- Gold Award Girl Scouts on average spend one to two years on their project.
- A Gold Award project must be sustainable after the girl’s involvement ends.
- The average age of Gold Award Girl Scouts is 17.
- Since 1916, more than 1 million girls have earned the Gold Award or its equivalent.
- Gold Award Girl Scouts are entitled to enlist at a higher pay grade when they join the military.
- University research indicates that noting you are a Gold Award Girl Scout on a college application is influential in the admissions decision-making process.
- Eighteen young women from New Hampshire and Vermont have earned their Gold Award in the 2022-2023 membership year as part of Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains.
- The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable.
We Are Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains serves girls throughout New Hampshire and Vermont through volunteer-run troops, events, and virtual programs. Visit www.girlscoutsgwm.org to learn more.
