NATCHEZ &045;&045; All over Adams County, Girl Scouts like sisters Lekeshia and Anissa Harris are cleaning closets and storage rooms.

They are filling plastic garbage bags with clothes, toys, bedding, shoes and anything no longer useful to their families but too good to throw away.

On Saturday, the Scouts will hold their annual collection for Good Will Industries, and they invite all area residents to take part by taking items to Wal-Mart between 10 a.m. and noon in front of the store.

Lekeshia, 10, a fourth-grader at Morgantown School, said cleaning things out of her closet has been a good thing. &uot;I’ve filled up four bags and have two more to go,&uot; she said. &uot;I feel good because all these people who don’t have stuff might need this.&uot;

Her sister, Anissa, 11, a fifth-grader at Morgantown, already has five or six bags full. &uot;I pulled out clothes I don’t wear, and we washed them and put them in the bags.&uot;

Frances Bailey, who heads the Girl Scout activities for the county, said this year the challenge is twice as big. &uot;They’re sending two trucks to fill,&uot; she said.

The girls receive patches to recognize their contributions. But the real prize is the difference the donated items can have in the lives of less fortunate people, Bailey said.

&uot;You can bring light pieces of furniture, baby clothes and baby furniture, toys, clothes, pairs of shoes, coats, kitchen items, and the men from Good Will will load everything on the truck,&uot; she said.

Scouts learn about giving and sharing, she said. Some girls bring 12 or 15 bags full.

Darby Sowell, president of Good Will Industries in Jackson, has worked with the organization for 33 years. The work done by the Scouts is an important contribution, he said.

&uot;These girls give at the perfect time,&uot; he said. &uot;We get low on donations this time of the year. This is a shot in the arm at a time when we need donations desperately.&uot;

Good Will began in 1902 by a Boston, Mass., minister who fed the hungry but provided a way for them to work to pay for the food. &uot;They were able to keep their pride,&uot; Sowell said.

Good Will does not receive outside funding, including government assistance. &uot;We have to earn our money,&uot; Sowell said. &uot;And we do. Last year we had a payroll close to 1.4 million dollars.&uot;

Julia Wilkinson, marketer for Middle Mississippi Girl Scout Council, said Good Will hires people in transition, people who need a step up.

&uot;They run a store. They take the items gathered and organize and resort them,&uot; Wilkinson said. &uot;They take things you want out of your house but you know are too good to throw away.&uot;

They also repair items; so if a small table has a broken leg that appears fixable, that is a fine item to donate.

Girl Scout Shunieka Busby, 12, a sixth-grader at Morgantown School, said she is gathering clothes she hasn’t worn in a long time, shoes that don’t fit anymore and sheets and comforters the family no longer uses.

On Saturday, she will bring the bags filled from her closet and the family’s storage room and donate them to Good Will.

&uot;It makes me feel I’m helping someone less fortunate than I am,&uot; she said. &uot;I’m doing my part for the community.&uot;