Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting in Haiti with CARE

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 CARE in 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.

Gold Award Project Launches a Career

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!

Girl Scout Night with the Las Vegas Wranglers!

If you live anywhere near Las Vegas - go to this event. Also, how awesome is this video!?

Weekend Run-Down

From care packages to an awesome Hockey event - Girl Scouts are out and about in every community:

• In the beautiful La Jolla, CA, girls were packing care kits to send to Haiti through Heart to Heart International. Read more in the La Jolla Light.
• Fort Bend Now is reporting that in Houston, TX, several Girl Scouts discovered the masterpieces of Carl Faberge - the legendary jeweler who is still celebrated for his inventive design and meticulous craftsmanship - currently at The Houston Museum of Natural Science.
• The Journal News in Ohio has a fantastic story about Chelsea Rice - a member of Girl Scout Troop 40559 of Western Ohio - working toward her Gold Award.
• In Milton, PA, The Standard-Journal is highlighting members of Junior Girl Scout Troop 312, who recently collected items for care packages to be sent to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Yahoo Sports is running the story about The Las Vegas Wranglers - who will dress in Girl Scout themed attire for their coming ECHL game! (There's a video too - which I'll post tomorrow).
• Slash/Food is reporting on a very popular new cookie.

Enjoy!

What Can a Cookie Do?

Weekend Run-Down

Hello,

From creative fundraising events to tributes to the late Marting Luther King Jr., Girl Scouting is in the news:

• The Virginian-Pilot reports on local Girl Scouts reading aloud Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech to a group of volunteers gathered at the Brighton Rock A.M.E. Zion Church in Portsmouth on Monday.
• The Watertown Daily Times in New York reports that Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways has received a $10,000 Design and Discovery grant from Girl Scouts of the U.S.A to conduct three one-week camp sessions for Girl Scout Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors.
• In Anderson, South Carolina, Girl Scouts volunteered at Anderson County Sheriff's Office Patrol Dog Cemetery. Read more in The Independent Mail.
• Head on over to The San Francisco Chronicle and check out another fantastic Op Ed by Marina Park - Girl Scout CEO, lawyer, and mom.
• Eastern Michigan University Athletics is teaming up with Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan, the council serving central Michigan, for a fundraiser during the women’s basketball home game against the University of Akron, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m.
• The Tennessean has a story on a group of Nashville Girl Scouts who earned their Gold Award by revamping Centerstone Child and Adolescent Clinic.

Enjoy!

Haiti: Communities Come Together to Help Those in Need

As everyone surely knows, at 5:14 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2009 - a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake affected roughly one in three Haitians - about 3 million people, the Red Cross estimated. It was so strong that it was felt in Cuba, more than 200 miles away. Precise casualty estimates have been impossible to determine. Haitian President Rene Preval said Wednesday he had heard estimates of up to 50,000 dead, but that it was too early to know for sure. The Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said he worries that several hundred thousand people were killed. Devastated, Haiti is in dire need of global assistance.

In true Girl Scout form, there are already reports of Troops pitching in time and energy to the relief efforts. In Illinois, The Fox Valley Villages Sun is reporting on a Girl Scout troop that packed a mix of rice, soy, dried vegetables and chicken flavoring Wednesday to send to the young victims of the devastating earthquake.

Elsewhere across The United States, hundreds of thousands of people have already donated money using Text-based fundraising - which is all about immediacy. Time is reporting that as of 3pm Wednesday afternoon, An American Red Cross Text Donation system had raised over $800,000. The system is extremely convenient whereas you don't even need to plug in your credit card info - the donation amount is simply added to your next phone bill. It's quick and convenient, so you can give in the moment. There's no chance of you forgetting to do it later.

For those individuals looking for more ways to help, I've compiled a list of resources below:

• Yele Haiti


• American Red Cross


• Mercy Corps


• National Nurses United


• Unicef


• AmeriCares


• Doctors Without Borders
• United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund
• CARE

As always, please do share your stories of people coming together to help in your communities to help.

Girl Scouting Meets Hockey in Vegas

Do you live in the Las Vegas, NV, area? If so, save the night of Friday, March 12th - when The Las Vegas Wranglers will be hosting Girl Scout Night at their game against The Bakersfield Condors!

The Wranglers will be wearing Girl Scout uniform inspired jerseys that will be available for silent auction throughout the game. The Girl Scouts are also offering a special ticket rate of $10 for that night's game. A portion of the proceeds from the jersey auction and tickets sold by the Girl Scouts benefits the Las Vegas local Girl Scouts of Frontier Council. Other Girl Scout-themed activities are planned throughout the evening.

The Wranglers are members of the Pacific Division of the National Conference of the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League), and have held many accolades over their seven year span - including having the highest winning percentage in ECHL history. They hold seven ECHL records. Awesome!

Cool Things in Dallas, Texas

WFAA-TV in Dallas, TX, is celebrating local Girl Scout Troop 931 and Troop 1706 in a segment called After The Bell - focusing on exemplary community activity in the Dallas/Fort Worth region. Both Troops come from two very different neighborhoods - One being from the inner city in South Dallas and the other from the affluent Highland Park District. They started meeting at the St. Anthony Community Center five years ago at the suggestion of Highland Park Troop Leader Teresa Mayfield as a way to bridge the two communities. In addition to collaborating with singing and selling Girl Scout Cookies, the girls also go on camping trips. Read more here.

Also making news in the area is Cookie Season. The Cedar Creek Pilot has a fantastic story highlighting the The Girl Scout Cookie Program as an integral part of Girl Scouts’ Business and Economic Literacy initiative for girls. It goes on to state:

"What started out as a bake sale has turned into a sophisticated leadership program where girls learn valuable life & business skills: goal setting, public speaking, teamwork, brand awareness, responsibility, money & time management, financial literacy and grassroots entrepreneurship in its finest form."

Well said indeed - definitely check it out.

Weekend Run-Down

From communicating with soldiers in Afghanistan to cookies and more, Girl Scouts across the country are busy as ever:

• The Super Bowl is fast approaching! Do you have Girl Scout Cookies for your party?
• To help the homeless community in Austin, TX, Abby Hamer collected more than 300 new and used backpacks for people to store their personal belongings in - she earned her Gold Award by doing so.
• The Ridgewood News in New Jersey has an outstanding story about communications between Troop 1219 at Ridge School and soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.
• In Massachusetts, Marblehead Cadet Girls Scout Troop 646 donated their time to the Lifebridge Homeless Shelter in Salem. Read about it here.
• According to the Sonoma News in Arizona, this was the last weekend to recycle Christmas Trees with the Girl Scouts Christmas Tree recycling program.
• In Virginia, Girl Scouts made their own cookies - and took some very cute pics!

Enjoy

Girl Scout Bronze Award: Intro and Example

With a large number of posts focused on The Girl Scout Gold Award, let's take a look at a different award - The Girl Scout Bronze Award. What is it? The Bronze Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can achieve. Another fun fact about the Bronze Award from the GSUSA Website states that:

"The Girl Scout Bronze Award was created by a troop of Junior Girl Scouts from an individual council and introduced at Girl Scouts of the
USA's 2001 National Meeting of Presidents and
Executive Directors in Savannah, Georgia."

Cool! That falls right in line with the Girl Led way of thought and practice. For a better understanding of what it actually takes to receive a Bronze Award, direct yourself here. In the meantime, check out a story in Massachusetts's Ashland TAB about Ashland Girl Scout Troop 72370, who supplied Franklin Park Zoo in Boston with a new collection of toys and puzzles to keep the animals' homes stimulating and interesting. Do you have any Bronze Award stories you'd like to share? Let me know!

Cynthia Onorevole is Green and Gold

Today in Gold Award news, we have Cynthia Onorevole of Rockaway Township, NJ, who earned her Gold Award by organizing a two-week eco-camp at the Rockaway Twp. Public Library for students in grades four through eight. Of her project, Cynthia says,

"I was able to help educate children in the community about easy changes they can make to improve the way the environment is treated."

Awesome! Cynthia also speaks on her experience as a Girl Scout by saying,

"Girl Scouts has helped me become a confident, strong, dedicated, and well-educated person... I have grown and matured from the many and varied experiences I have had in Girl Scouting and I’ve made connections with girls all over the U.S. through traveling, camping, and other activities."

Congrats to Cynthia! Be sure to check out the full article here, and as always - let us know about fantastic Girl Scout stories in your communities.

Every Cookie Has a Mission

Check out this awesome new PSA!