The monthslong stay a dog or cat may have at the Butler County Humane Society in Connoquenessing Township will be made all the more comfortable by the members of Girl Scout Troop 52840, who embarked on their own monthslong journey to help animals at the shelter.

The troop completed its Bronze Award project on Wednesday, Aug. 27, when its members delivered four car loads of pet supplies — such as toys, food and cleaning items — to the humane society.

As some of the girls remarked, the amount of supplies they pulled up to the humane society with caught its staff members off guard.

“The lady who was there said that was the most they got even through their Christmas donation drive,” said Maia Cisse, 11, of Cranberry Township, a member of Troop 52840.

According to Michele Little, co-leader of Girl Scout Troop 52840, the scouts got together around January this year to plan for their Bronze Award project, which they needed to spend 20 hours working on for a local nonprofit or cause. Little said the troop narrowed their project down to a few possibilities before voting to go ahead on a donation drive for the Butler County Humane Society.

Little said the girls were happy to help the humane society after visiting the shelter and meeting the animals staying there. Not many of the girls had actually been to the shelter yet, but once they visited, they were off and running on their project.

“We met with the director and talked about what their biggest needs were, the struggles they have as a shelter and that kind of drove them to do a donation drive on their behalf,” Little said. “In May we went to the establishments one by one to see if they could help with our project.”

The troop placed donation bins in several locations in its area, like the PetSmart in Cranberry Township, Agway in Mars, Agway in Butler Township, Camp Bow Wow and Petagogy. Some of those businesses also donated some supplies to the scouts’ cause.

The tour of the shelter was educational for the girls, who learned the humane society needed certain items more than others.

“The person who was showing us around said they needed cleaning stuff rather than toys,” said troop member Aymara Signori, 11, of Renfrew. “We went to Walmart and Costco and got dog toys and cleaning supplies too.”

Some of the girls said they chose the animal shelter in the first place because they are animal lovers. Troop member Ellie Johnson 11, of Cranberry Township, said she has been to several animal shelters before and enjoys helping animals in general. Ellie said she learned that, although the Butler County Humane Society’s goal is to get its animals adopted, it doesn’t always happen quickly.

“They might be there for days, months or even years before they get adopted,” Ellie said.

After dropping donation bins off at area businesses, it was a waiting game for the girls. However, emptying the bins every few weeks always generated excitement in the troop because of the volume of donations they kept yielding.

“It was fun, my favorite part was going to the stands with donation boxes,” Maia said.

Aymara also said the amount of donations was surprising.

“I didn't think that we would get a lot items, but we ended up getting a lot of donations from people,” Aymara said.

After a few months of leaving the donation bins out, the scouts gathered them and the supplies together to sort into categories, to make it easier for the humane society to sort into its own stock.

Little said the girls were diligent — they put dog treats and cat treats into separate piles, had piles for dog and cat food, and put all the cleaning supplies into its own category.

The teamwork involved in the effort was impressive, according to Little, who helped supervise the troop alongside co-troop leader Karen Welch.

“Just watching them work together and come to a decision unanimously, they all have their own opinion on things,” Little said. “They were all gung-ho about supporting the humane society and they had to put 20 hours of work in to earn the award. They all did it without complaint.”

The piles would be placed into boxes in the vehicles of the scouts’ parents, creating stacks of supplies that reached the ceiling of an SUV 10 times over. The delivery to the humane society was a particularly memorable moment of the project, several of the girls said.

“They were really excited because there was a lot of food, toys, donations and cleaning supplies,” Aymara said.

Giving so much to the shelter was even emotional for Ellie, who said she thought about how much it would help the animals.

“It felt really special because I have been to multiple shelters before and thinking about how happy the animals would be just makes me feel so happy,” Ellie said. “It's hard to explain but it's so helpful to just give back to the community.”

The girls were able to claim their Bronze Award after completing the project. The award is an achievement patch given to a troop that finishes a group project. The troop members will bridge to become cadets in September, at which point, they can start working on their Silver Award projects, which are meant to be done by smaller groups.

Some of the girls are already brainstorming their next community-oriented project.

“I'm thinking of helping like a women's shelter. I can start it when I become a cadet,” Maia said.

Little said the success of the Bronze Award project leads her to believe the members of Girl Scout Troop 52840 will be successful in completing any of the ensuing projects they need to complete to receive further achievements.

“We were very proud of them,” Little said. “It gives me hope that … next year they can take the lead and get involved.”