Brownies from Virginia Catholic school light national Christmas tree

Published: 2004-12-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nicole Mastracchio and Clara Pitts, third-graders at St. Timothy School in Chantilly, Va., excitedly flipped the switch Dec. 2 and 450 sets of lights, donated by General Electric Co. illuminated the national Christmas tree as thousands of people standing on the Ellipse watched. "We're still just so excited," Denise Pitts, Clara's mother, said the next morning. Nicole and Clara are two of St. Timothy School's third-grade Brownies who collected lip balm, chewing gum, candy, tissues, sunscreen and handmade cards to send to troops overseas. The eight girls of Brownie Troop No. 5179 collected more than 200 pounds of supplies and assembled nearly 1,000 care packages. With the help of Koonz, McKenney, Johnson, Depaolis and Lightfoot law firm, the packages were shipped to the troops in Iraq in time to be received before the holidays. The Brownies wrote to President George W. Bush to tell him about their Christmas project and invite him to the school, but instead they were invited to the White House Ellipse to help the president and first lady Laura Bush light the national Christmas tree.

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