Hedges Insurance Services and Mission Cities Insurance Agency funded the project

NORTH COUNTY — On the afternoon of Friday, Mar. 18, local Brownie Troop 45002, made up of second-graders from Atascadero, Templeton, and Paso Robles, hand-delivered 400 boxes of cookies to staff and medical personnel at Twin Cities Hospital.

“We had two businessmen come to us, or two insurance agents that wanted to give back to the community. They had decided that they wanted to do it to Twin Cities,” said 45002 Brownie Troop Leader Melanie Caspary. “They bought 400 boxes of cookies from my Brownie troop.”

Jim duBois of Mission Cities Insurance Agency and Mike Hedges of Hedge Insurance Services were behind the funds. duBois’s daughter has a friend whose daughter is in Troop 45002, which is how he got involved in sponsoring the cookies for the hospital. duBois has a daughter who’s an ER nurse, so his heart is with medical workers and thinking of ways to thank them for what they do.

“Basically, the idea was, we’re supporting this local Brownie Troop. I thought it would be a good educational opportunity for them to know what the hospital does, kind of thing,” duBois said. “Support the local Brownies and say thank you to the hospital; that’s how it basically all came together. And when I approached Hedges Insurance, they immediately jumped on, and so that’s basically how the funding came together.”

Brownie Troop 45002 is made up of eight girls. Six of them are from Atascadero. The other two are from Templeton and Paso Robles, respectively. Alongside some of their siblings, they hand-delivered the cookies to hospital staff.

“The girls were so excited to give back to the community, and the nurses and staff that came out were just super appreciative,” Caspary said. “So it was really nice for them to be able to do that all together. Girl Scouts is a great organization to work with. They do so much for the community. It’s nice to have the kids have that kind of connection.”

Troop 45002 was a part of every element of the afternoon, from unloading the cookies and putting them on a hand-cart to making signs for staff.

“The staff at Twin Cities is so very inspired by such generous donations — these make everyone feel very appreciated during these trying times,” said Mike Lane, Chief Operating Officer at Twin Cities Community Hospital, of the donation. “The whole hospital is very grateful for the kindness and thoughtfulness.” 

duBois hopes that this small act of kindness spurs other local organizations to give back to local hospital staff on the Central Coast.