Bottle Caps Saved For "Buddy Benches"

AUBURN – Auburn Girl Scouts are turning their recycling drive into “buddy benches” intended to make sure every child has a playmate.

Charlotte Dickerson, a leader of the Daisy and Brownie Girl Scouts, started a drive to collect plastic bottle caps and send them to a recycling factory to be made into bench lumber.

The first buddy bench will be installed at Calvert Elementary School. The idea is that children sitting on the bench are looking for a friend and other children are encouraged to ask them to play.

Dickerson asked her fellow Girl Scouts to join in and over 500 pounds of lids were collected this year. The Girl Scouts are looking for local donations for up to five buddy benches.

In addition to schools, benches are proposed for Legion Park near the swimming pool and the Auburn Recreation Complex.

Also participating are Autumn Dickerson, Amanda and Emilee Neal, Shannon Gray and Emma Dunekache, and Shelby and Lisa Muse.