A young Girl Scout with a big heart offers a bit of joy to people in need

Six-year-old Lauren Lennon of Wake Forest, North Carolina, wanted to make a difference in her community. She wanted to donate Girl Scout cookies to the homeless, and her mother, Bridget Wall-Lennon, decided The Salvation Army of Wake County would be the ideal place.

When word got out of what Lauren wanted to do, local television stations came out to cover the story. When Lauren and her mother pulled into the parking lot of The Salvation Army of Wake County, Lauren was crying. "I don't want to be on television," she said.

It truly shows the heart and mission of what Lauren was trying to do. She didn't care about the fame or the public knowing what she was doing. She just wanted to do something in her community for those who are less fortunate and to at least, for a moment, put a smile on someone's face.

After her mother and the cameramen and Salvation Army staff talked with Lauren and calmed her down, she warmed up to the idea of being recognized for what she was doing.

Lauren saw her mother, a board commissioner for the Town of Wake Forest, donate Girl Scout cookies to the homeless in 2018. Upon losing her first front tooth, Lauren asked Wall-Lennon if the Tooth Fairy would bring her $100 for her tooth. Wall-Lennon seemed puzzled by the question. During Wall-Lennon's time growing up, the fairy would possibly bring 50 cents. Lauren explained that she wanted to buy Girl Scout cookies to give to the homeless.

Lauren wrote her letter to the Tooth Fairy. Well, the Tooth Fairy gave her $50 that evening. Wall-Lennon also posted about what Lauren was trying to do on social media and she received about $200 more in donations. She bought 81 boxes of cookies and gave them out at The Salvation Army of Wake County Center of Hope Women's and Children's Shelter.

"We chose The Salvation Army because we know it's a Christian-based organization, that it extends itself to helping individuals who may be in transition and have fallen on hard times," said Wall-Lennon. "In this day's society, so many of us are just around the corner from that."

This is Lauren's second year as a Daisy. Wall-Lennon said that Lauren is extremely shy and bashful. When Lauren first started with the Girl Scouts, she had a rough go of it, trying to fit in. But as time has gone on, she has gotten more acclimated and has begun to come out of her shell. The one thing about Lauren is that she is very competitive.

"She wants to be the top cookie seller," said Wall-Lennon. "She takes pride in putting her orders together and knows how to pull her orders. I'm really proud of her."

Last year, Lauren sold 560 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. She set a goal of selling 600 this year. She ended up selling 837 boxes of cookies. Her goal next year is to sell 1,000 boxes of cookies.