Two Mile High Club
Each year before “cookie season,” Girl Scout Troop #44307, in Peyton, Colorado, located some 30 miles east of Colorado Springs, creates a list of things they’d like to do as a troop and which “community service project” they favor for their “hometown hero.”
So, in 2023, the troop donated part of their cookie money to help fund Donkey Derby Days, which was short on the money needed for the 92nd annual celebration. On their own, the girls, all in 4th- 6th grades, voted to donate $500 of their cookie money toward the celebration and care of the donkeys of Cripple Creek.
Troop #44307 and the Cripple Creek Donkeys became fast friends in 2023. Since that time, the girls and their leaders drove from the prairie near Peyton, Colorado, up to the mountains surrounding Cripple Creek for a field trip to spend a day with the donkeys and learn more about these loveable beasts under the care of the Two Mile High Club continuously since 1931.
This year, the girls decided they wanted to do another project to benefit the community of Cripple Creek and their favorite equines. They chose to make two benches to place at the Cripple Creek Donkey viewing platform on County Road 89, west of Cripple Creek. The Scouts thought it would be beneficial to people who would like to visit the donkeys and aren’t able to stand on the platform.
Scout leaders Shannon Kimball, Gina Tracy, and Tasha Parsons are proud of the Scouts’ continued service to the donkeys, noting, “The girls chose this project to go toward their Bronze Award and are so excited to deliver the benches to representatives from the Two Mile High Club!”
In a special ceremony, the Girl Scouts delivered the benches to the Club on September 22 at the feeding platform. The Two Mile High Club broadcasted the handoff live on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
“The donkeys are important because they make people happy, and we want to make the world a better place, and that means keeping the donkeys around for a long time,” said one of the Scouts. “The fact that these young ladies care this much for a donkey herd that lives more than 70 miles from their homes is an example for us all,” said Laura Piccolo, Vice President of the Two Mile High Club and Social Media Coordinator.
“We are grateful to be recipients of their continued kindness.”
History of the Cripple Creek Donkeys
Legend has it that President Teddy Roosevelt convinced the gold mine owners to release the donkeys to the city of Cripple Creek in 1931. At that time the Two Mile High Club formed to provide continuous care to these lovable beasts of burden. Today’s herd numbers 14 and they receive daily food, shelter and medication, as needed, by the devoted volunteers of the Two Mile High Club a non-profit 501c3, who relies solely on grants, donations and sponsorships to provide care for the herd. For more information on the Cripple Creek Donkeys, https://www.
Peyton Girl Scout Troop Message
The Peyton Girl Scout Troop of 12 was formed five years ago. The troop abides by dedicated creed that states the following: “On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law. I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.”
