Good Morning and welcome to another edition of Weekend Run-Down:
As reported in The Tampa Tribune, The Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida and Highlands County Girl Scouts would like to thank several local businesses for their contribution of prizes to the 6th Annual "Cindy's Girl Scout Cookie Eating Contest" that was recently held at the Highlands County Fair.
NBC Cox Local News in Omaha reports that local girl scouts discovered you don't have to be a big organization to make a big impact.
In New York, Girl Scouts brought some Sunday cheer to residents of a Niagara County health care facility. Check it out here!
As the Contra Costa Times is reporting, Jaime Richards is one Girl Scout who's driven to achieve. According to the report, it is a story with two themes: (1) The classy courage of an incredible young woman. (2) What schools can learn from the Girl Scouts. Awesome!
MSNBC is reporting that Australian band Men at Work copied a well-known children’s campfire song for the flute melody in its 1980s hit “Down Under” and owes the owner years of royalties. “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” was written more than 70 years ago by Australian teacher Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition. Federal Court Justice Peter Jacobson said,
“I have come to the view that the flute riff in “Down Under” ... infringes on the copyright of Kookaburra because it replicates in material form a substantial part of Ms. Sinclair’s 1935 work,”
He ordered the parties back in court Feb. 25 to discuss the compensation Larrikin should receive from songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert and Men at Work’s record companies Sony/BMG Entertainment and EMI. Justiced served! In other news, I do still think "Down Under" is a worthy jam.
The survey unearthed several interesting findings on the conflicted relationship between girls and fashion, along with an in-depth look at how girls define ‘skinny’ and how they feel about the images portrayed to them. The nationwide survey finds that many girls consider the body image sold by the fashion industry unrealistic, creating an unattainable model of beauty. Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed say the fashion industry (89 percent) and/or the media (88 percent) place a lot of pressure on them to be thin. However, despite the criticism of this industry, 3 out of 4 girls say that fashion is “really important” to them, illustrating many girls to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome in regards to the fashion industry.
Be sure to read the press release, and stay tuned for updates on the progress of the survey - in and out of the media. Furthermore - what are your opinions on body image and the fashion industry? Please do share.
Chabad News, in New York, has a fantastic article today about Girl Scout Troop 3131 - a unique troop comprised solely of Jewish Girl Scouts. The piece is full of truly inspirational quotes about the quality of the Girl Scout experience, from both girls and adults. Group co-leader Sarah Alevsky, a youth director at the Chabad House says,
“We are lucky that Girl Scouts is such a flexible system with a broad enough framework that we can infuse with Judaism... Girl Scouts fits our objective and what we are trying to achieve at Chabad, because we share some of the same principles, namely, that the girls grow up to be upright, responsible, caring adults."
Definitely check out the entire article - and as always, let us know about unique Girl Scout Troops in your communities.
"What Can a Cookie Do?" - our recent video about the impact and power of the Girl Scout Cookie Program, is quickly gaining speed online! USA Today says,
"What begins as a box of cookies sold by a young woman goes to help human beings of all ages in the most dire of circumstances."
So far, the video has been picked up by Brand Channel, Marketing Daily, USA Today and many more. The video itself is quickly approaching twenty-thousand views - but can certainly gain a lot more. Spread the word! Let's turn twenty-thousand into a million.
Today, we are on the front page of theWall Street Journal, in a favorable light. The article titled Once-Robust Charity Sector Hit With Mergers, Closings highlights a very successful merging of councils in Indiana. Of the Indiana merger, the article states that:
By combining administrative functions, property management and audits, the organization is saving about $1 million a year.
Pretty impressive considering the very turbulent economic environment we are currently experiencing.
Good Morning - In today's Run-Down there are sporting stories, cookie stories, Gold Award stories and more! Check it out:
In Alabama, The Clanton-Advertiser has a great story titled Girl Scouts Learn Life Lessons Selling Cookies.
In Massachusetts, The Clinton Times and Courier has an article about hopeful Gold Award recipient - Krystal Reardon.
In Southern California, more than 4,000 kids and their families - as well as several Nickelodeon stars - converged on the Ontario Convention Center Saturday for the first ever Believe In Girls Exposition, presented by the Girl Scouts of the San Gorgonio Council.
In Savannah, GA, local Girl Scouts learned about aviation at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum - read all about it here.
For "Girl Scout Day" at The Carver-Hawkeye Arena, an impressive turnout of 7,737 attendees came out to watch the Iowa women’s basketball team take on Purdue. Check it out in The Daily Iowan.
As the terrible scale of the disaster in Haiti unfolds, the international Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Movement continues to deliver funds, support and thoughts to their Girl Guide sisters in the devastated country. For more information on the activities of The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in response to the disaster in Haiti, check out updates on their website.
Next, head over to read a fantastic article in The Huffington Post highlighting the efforts of CAREin Haiti. Instead of just pulling up with a truck full of food or supplies, CARE is empowering members of the community to partner with them in distribution. Specifically, Scouts in the region have been tapped to help distribute food or supplies, often times lending comfort to those in need. Patrick Solomon, CARE's Senior VP of Global Support Services says that,
"perhaps the most inspiring sight was of young girl and boy scouts helping maintain order...They stood guard to help control the anxious people gathering outside."
CARE has provided a video, which I've posted below, of Girl and Boy Scouts distributing Hygiene kits in Haiti.
Head on over to The Utica Observer Dispatch today for a fantastic story highlighting the power of the Girl Scout Gold Award.
As a teenager, Jennifer Clark of Verona, NY, worked at Peterson’s Pets in Rome, where she saw people purchase pets without understanding how to care for them. A short period later, the owners would return the animals - saying that they no longer wanted them or were unable to care for them. Clark took it to heart, saying:
“It was really heartbreaking to me that people would go out and buy these animals on a whim”
Eventually, when Clark chose her Gold Award project, she thought providing some pet-owner education would break the cycle. She also taught children how to choose animals that would best fit in with their lifestyle and brought information about rabies. Twenty-Five years later, Clark’s project is a budding business. Make sure you read the article and then check out Jennifer's business - Out of the Cage Pet Mobile - which currently has a Bearded Dragon(pictured) named Fluffy!
