Girl Scouts visit Hospitality House

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September 6, 2010

By Linda Hill-Smith Special to The Item The Huntsville Item Mon Sep 06, 2010, 05:59 PM CDT

HUNTSVILLE — Girl Scout Troop 8093, a group of junior and senior high school students let by Linda Hill Smith, Pamela Carr and Kelly Rogers delivered a donation of 240 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to the Hospitality House in Huntsville on Sept. 2.

The donation was made on behalf of the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council to benefit the children whose fathers are in prison.

Girl Scouts heard testimony from their leader, Linda Hill-Smith who served as a chaplain for the prison system for nearly two decades, and Hospitality House volunteer Donna Mitchum, on the importance of ministry.

After a tour of the facility the troop heard a testimony from the wife of a man who has been incarcerated for 12 years. The couple’s daughter, who is the same age as the girls, was on hand to share with the girls what is as like growing up with her father in prison. There was not a dry eye in the room as the stories unfolded as to how the family has been judges and treated by others. The final lesson was learned when many of the Girl Scouts learned for the first time that their own leader of more than 10 years was herself born in prison to an incarcerated woman.

“You never know who is sitting right next to you and no one should be judged by the actions of others,” one of the Girl Scouts said.

It was a very spiritual and emotional experience for all that ended with the troop and their new friend going out to the movies and pizza.

The Hospitality House, built in May of 1986 in 24 hours by over 270 volunteers, provides safe lodging, food and a nonjudgmental passion for ministry for the families and loved ones of those incarcerated in one of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison units in Huntsville, Navasota and Livingston areas. The house is open seven days a week. I accommodates the various family visitation schedules of TDCJ including general weekend visits, death row visits, inmate release and executions.

For more information about the Hospitality House, contact Debra McCammon, director, at (936) 291-6196 or at www.thehospitalityhouse.org. For more information about Girl Scouts in Huntsville, call Linda Hill-Smith at leader8093@yahoo.com

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