When Citrus Council presented the Fall Product Program to us, I immediately got excited because, yippee, something for the girls to look forward to!
My name is Dana Allen and my Troop #825 has been around since 1982 and I have been the leader the entire time. I have definitely seen lots of things happen in these 38 plus years. We have sold many products and reached a multitude of goals. However, 2020 has been the most challenging year with the present situation of Covid-19.
Citrus Council has definitely stepped up the game and given (and are still giving) us so many avenues to travel to keep our troops active and connected. I was proud to hear positive remarks from all the parents in our troop as I presented the Fall Product Program and dropped off their order forms to each girl. I am excited to share our ongoing success story for the 2020 Fall Product Program. We are rocking it with (at this moment) $3,020.00 sold. It has not just dropped in our laps. We are emailing, calling, texting, and sharing on social media to all our families and friends all the ways they can place an order. I check our troop dashboard several times a day and send out messages of encouragement to the girls.
Thank you to the Product Team for all you do. This is a great program and I love the M2 Media Group. So easy to navigate, yay!
I just want to say thank you to all involved in helping our troops make the 2020 Fall Product Program work, and my sincere thanks to my girls and troop parents.
Dana Allen/Troop #825
Sunrise Community
[Photo taken pre-Covid-19, before social distancing protocol]
The Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes (GSNWGL) council is inviting all Girl Scouts to participate in a Weekend of Service on May 17-19 in honor of Girl Scouts from Chippewa Falls Troop #3055.
Join us in helping our sister council honor the memory of those lost by continuing their work through service in your own communities.
Troop Leaders – listen up! If you haven’t invited new girls into your troop yet this fall, what are you waiting for? There are SO many reasons to inviting even more girls to join the sisterhood. Here are our top 10 reasons (just to name a few)!
Going outside of your comfort zone sets a great example for the girls. If you’re ready and willing to allow a new girl into the troop, then they will be ready and willing to allow a new friend into their lives.
Is your daughter’s best friend not in the troop? Did you ever stop to ask yourself why? This gives more time for the girls to hang out and to connect with others!
Girl Scouts is a safe space. You’re already there as a leader or volunteer so you know what girls are doing. Share with other parents that you’re always there for the girls and a supportive adult.
New girls means new families. And new families come with potential new co-leaders, fall product and cookie volunteers, drivers, or an extra set of helping hands!
New girls means new ideas and new interests. Younger girls and older girls alike can benefit from experiencing different types of badge or Journey interests. Are your current girls hyper focused on art or the outdoors? Introducing a girl who loves math or science can open an entirely new set of passions.
It’s super simple to make it a fun opportunity for both your girls and the girls who are new to the troop. Girls already in the troop can earn a fun patch by inviting a new girl while new girls get a fun patch of their own when it’s their first year in the troop! If you’ve noticed inconsistency with girls attending meetings, set a minimum amount of participation for both girls in order to earn the fun patch and keep girls coming back.
With Girl Scouts being girl-led, particularly as girls reach Junior level and up they can start breaking down badges and Journey steps to help their troop mates through the activities. More girls, believe it or not, can mean less work for you!
More girls equals less of a probability of girls getting on each others’ nerves. Any small group of girls, even best friends, can get on each others’ nerves if they’re together too much. With more friends to spend time with, you can easily mix up groups of girls working on projects together, to keep things fresh.
Face your fears of leading more girls so they have the opportunity to face their fears and try something new too! Whether it’s swimming for the first time, rock climbing, zip lining, or participating in her first overnight – there are so many opportunities that girls may not have without you inviting her into the troop!
Girl Scouts gives girls a community to better themselves through skill building badges, journeys, Take Action, and highest awards. There are so many Girl Scout alumnae from actors like Dakota Fanning and America Ferrara to musicians like Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey to politicians like Hillary Clinton and Sandra Day O’Connor to the first woman in space, Sally Ride, to news anchor Katie Couric. You can give girls the opportunity to change themselves and the potential to change the world.
The 2018 Cookie season is in the books. Our girls did an amazing job selling cookies, working booths and managing their business. While many sold well over 1,000 boxes, there were some that were able to sell upwards of 2,000 boxes.
The Top Ten Cookie Sellers for 2018 are:
Girl Scout
Service Unit
Total
Ashley Henderson
Sparkling Rivers
3795
Senaia Asanya
Foliage
2687
Temperance Houck
Ohana
2156
Sabrina Mcelwain
Voyager
2043
Serenity Blackley
Voyager
2039
Hailey Gomez
Imagine
2024
Meryem Belghazi
East Orange
2004
Rebecca Zehnal
Imagine
2000
Kayleigh Remer
Voyager
2000
Melissa Janes
Heart of Lake
2000
Congratulations Girl Scouts! You did an incredible job this year.
We Don’t Need A Badge For That!” is a program series where Girl Scouts connect with the community to work on community service projects.
This series is about community service and giving back throughout the year. Girl Scouts of Citrus Council will work with different community partnership to create a Take Action projects, clean-up events, or other services.
This series does not involve a badge or patch, but rather, encourages Girl Scouts and their families to volunteer and help support our Central Florida community.
Just Wing It! – March 24 – 11:00 am to 3:30 pm
The kickoff event to this program series is a take action project. Girl Scouts will be creating and establishing a butterfly learning garden. This is something anyone and everyone can do. Working with Orlando City they will be allowing Girl Scouts to use their land to design, create and build their garden for future events, generations, and environmental gains!
Come out and help us put together butterfly homes, plant flowers, create a peaceful garden for everyone. As teams we will build the homes, paint them and set them in place for the butterflies. Other teams will be planting trees, plants, flowers, and more. Lunch will be provided and an educational session will take place on importance and impact this has on our community. The girls will just need to show up in old clothes and Tennis Shoes and be ready to work.
During the 2017 Hurricane season, troops everywhere were rallying together to do what they could to help those impacted. Some troops took to supporting existing initiatives to help make a larger impact. As was the case with Seminole Lakes Community, Troop 1710.
The Girl Scouts of Troop 1710 and their families, all took part in the ‘Orlando Cares-Hope for Puerto Rico’, coordinated by Feed Children Everywhere. Feed Children Everywhere is a non-profit organization committed to providing healthy meals to those in need. With the support of community organizations, numerous volunteers, and some of our very own Girl Scouts the organization was able to reach their goal of 4.4 million meals to help victims in Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria.
Troop 1710 had heard about the goal of Feed Children Everywhere through Facebook. Admiring what Feed Children Everywhere stands for, these Girl Scouts jumped at the chance to help during ‘Orlando Cares- Hope for Puerto Rico’. The girls and their families were all able to rearrange their schedules at the last minute to help a great cause.
The event was held at the Orange County Convention Center in a 200,000 square foot hall. The girls and parents split up and worked in several small groups to get as many meals packaged. To add a little motivation, the troop and their families held a little competition to see who could pack the most. The girls would check on their parents and vice versa to see who was in the lead. There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition after all.
“We had such a great feeling knowing we were helping to bring love and support to a country so devastated. I am very proud of our girls, they are always willing to help someone in need. They make it their mission to help whenever it is possible” expressed Girl Scout Troop 1710 leader, Stacey Herron.
The troop, as many other Citrus Girl Scout troops, are active in helping their local community. Troop 1710 has held shoe drives, various coat drives and most recently helping package meals for the families in Puerto Rico devastated by the Hurricane Maria. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the troop also helped several of our senior citizens clear debris from their yards.
“I am so proud of our girls for always thinking of others before themselves. They are always willing to help when needed in the community. We have a wonderful bunch of girls and they are going to do wonderful things as they become adults” said Stacey Herron.
Naomi Grabish, a Junior Girl Scout now, has been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten. As a Daisy she has done several activities similar to what other Girl Scouts of her age would be doing. A typical, normal girl progressing through school, Girl Scouts, and life. It wasn’t until she came across a holiday display in her community of Apopka that this Daisy would be challenged to do more.
In 2014, Naomi (six at the time) and her sister (five at the time) were going through Apopka and noticed the city’s holiday display. It was beautiful, yes, but something was missing for Naomi and her sister. They both noticed that there were no Hanukkah decorations in town, only Christmas decorations. She and her sister declared in protest, “that’s not fair.” But, what could they do?
Being six and five, they came up with several wild ideas which involved putting up their own display. Naomi eventually settled on writing a letter to Mayor Joe Kilsheimer, asking him to address the issue. Although this wasn’t the first time Naomi had written to a politician (she wrote to Barack Obama when she was four,) it was the first time she was asking for something from a political figure.
She mailed off her letter before Christmas break and when she got back from her family vacation, Naomi had a letter waiting from the Mayor apologizing for the lack of Hanukkah decorations. The Mayor promised to remedy this oversight and affirmed it would be fixed the following year.
Now, holding on to a promise for a year can be challenging for anyone. This proves even more difficult for prominent figures like Senators, Commissioners and Mayors. Sure enough, December 2015 rolled around and there were no Hanukah decorations. There was no change in December 2016 either.
A friend of the family, who happens to be the pastor at the local Presbyterian church suggested Naomi speak during the public comment period of a city council meeting. This would get her in front of city officials and leaders of the community, and she’d have a chance to be heard in person. This year, Naomi attended and spoke at the city council meeting. Mayor Kilsheimer was in attendance and told her that he remembered the letter. He promised her that he would look into the situation and assured her there would be Hanukah decorations this holiday season.
Not to be forgotten again, Naomi decided to write another letter to the Mayor before the holiday season, reminding him that he’d promised her Hanukkah decorations. In late October, as she was volunteering with her Girl Scout troop at a Halloween event in Apopka, she reminded him once again that he had promised her a menorah. He replied that he was making sure it would happen.
Mayor Kilsheimer with Naomi Grabish
Two weeks later, when Naomi and her family visited the city council with her Girl Scout troop, Mayor Kilsheimer handed her a photo and explained that the city had ordered that menorah. He then told Naomi and her troop that the menorah would be displayed with the rest of the holiday lights, and would be lit on December 1, 2017 during their Annual Winter Wonderland event.
“As her mother and her Girl Scout leader, I am in awe of the way she embraces both the value of inclusion and the importance of everyone seeing themselves reflected in their community-of making sure everyone is represented and heard” expressed Erika Grabish
When reflecting on this experience, and the significance of having a menorah in her community, Naomi expressed that “It seemed unfair…Apopka is a small city, but it should be inviting for everybody.”
Being a Girl Scout also played a key role in developing her confidence. “Girl Scouts helped me to do this because in Girl Scouts I talk to all different kinds of people” said Naomi
When asked how she was able to persist over three years (a third of her life), her only response was “the stronger the fight, the stronger the girl.”
Naomi’s persistence, dedication, belief in herself and her ability to make change happen is an inspiration to all. It also proves you’re never too young to make an impact in your community.
You can visit the Menorah light display, along with the other Christmas decorations at the Kit Land Nelson Park in Apopka.
Community Service is a primary motivator for Daisy troop 1635, who meet in Minneola. These second-year Daisies have created bags to support homeless individuals, collected items for Hurricane Harvey relief, assembled first aid kits for the homeless during Fire Safety Week, and made birthday bags for a local food bank.
In a recent brainstorm with their Daisy team, the girls decided on a canned food drive for their fall project. Troop Co-leader, Ruth Woody, encouraged the girls to take their idea one step further after seeing a Facebook post from Bennett Law Firm, encouraging groups to assemble and donate Thanksgiving dinner baskets to support Helping Hands Ministry in distributing meals to those less fortunate.
Co-leader, Ruth Woody, shares the impact of this project: “The girls agreed that everyone deserves to have a Thanksgiving dinner. I want these girls to learn at a young age that sharing is caring, and that Girl Scouts give back to their community every chance we have.” Woody also recognizes the support of Co-leader, Holly Jones, and the troop’s wonderful moms who gladly help with every community service project taken on by the Daisies: Alora, Allyson, Bailey, Brenna, Fae, Kathryn, Lily, Loryana, Margaret, Sonya, and Victoria.
And these Daisies aren’t slowing down any time soon. They’ve already decided on two upcoming projects. For winter, they’ll contribute to Toys for Tots, and over the summer, they’ll participate in a local Autism Awareness event in support of their sister Girl Scout, Bailey.
Woody’s advice to other Girl Scout troops: “There are many people in need out there. It just takes a small amount of time and research to find what you can do to help.”
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Is your troop taking on a Thanksgiving-inspired community service project? Share your story.
Aren’t we always saying we wish we had more time? Well with daylight savings, today we do. It may just be one hour—but Girl Scouts know how to get creative to make that hour count.
So let’s use the extra time to do what Girl Scouts love most—change the world! Here are four ways to make the world a better place today (and every day):
Donate an hour. Instead of letting this gift of time fly past you, offer to help a friend with a project; volunteer at a local community center, animal shelter, or charity event; initiate an impromptu trash cleanup in your neighborhood… There are so many options! Whatever you choose, doing something thoughtful with that extra hour can go a long way.
Have a lunch pack party. Feed some mouths and a few souls with a lunch pack party. Get your friends together and ask them to supply Ziploc bags, bread, cold cuts, sliced cheese, condiments, fruit, and bottled water. Then get to packing! If you have just four friends over and each of you assembles 10 lunch packs, that’s 40 people you can go out and feed in one day—how awesome is that? And if you can’t make it out during lunch, that’s OK; distribute the packs around dinnertime instead. For a little extra nourishment, include a note with a few hope-filled words in each one! It may take a little longer than an hour, but it will be worth it.
Make an overdue phone call. Is there a friend you’ve been meaning to get in touch with for a while but just haven’t found the time to? Pick up the phone and make it happen! After all, there’s no time like the present. You’ll feel good about reconnecting, and no doubt the other person will too.
Let someone (or someones) take your place in line. This is an easy thing we can all do to make such a difference—perhaps for a mom or dad rushing home to the kids, for an elderly person who may have trouble standing for long periods, or for someone who’s just having a bad day. So what do you say? Let ‘em cut! Then step to the end of the line and watch your good deed shine.
See? Service comes in doses large and small—even an hour can make a not-so-small difference.
Can you think of other fun and rewarding ways to put your extra hour to good use? What are you waiting for? Leap into leadership, grab your family and friends, and head out to change the world, one modest-yet-powerful act at a time. Girl Scouts is cheering you on!
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service.
Created in 1995 by Prudential and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the program honors middle level and high school students for outstanding service to others at the local, state and national level. Thus far, it has recognized more than 120,000 young people who’ve made a difference – and inspired countless others to consider how they might contribute to their communities.
Top Winners receive sizable cash awards, engraved medallions and an all-expense paid trip with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., for the national awards ceremony in late April 2018.
To be eligible, you must:
be in grades 5-12 as of November 7
be a legal resident of any U.S. state or Washington, D.C.
have engaged in a volunteer activity that occurred during the 12 months prior to the date of the application
submit a completed application to a school or the head of an official designated local organization by November 7
Girl Scouts can apply online at spirit.prudential.com or nassp.org/spirit. Applications must be submitted to the Citrus Council office no later than November 7, 2017. We will then review applications and select one or more Girl Scouts to represent our council in the state-level judging. If you have any questions of need a paper version of the application, please call 855-670-4787
Awards:
Local Honorees receive a Certificate of Achievement from their schools or organization. Those Local Honorees who qualify (26 hours of service for ages 10 and younger, 50 hours for ages 11-15, and 100 hours for older students) also receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Distinguished Finalists receive an engraved bronze medallion, and other state-level runners-up receive Certificates of Excellence.
State Honorees receive an award of $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., for national recognition events.
National Honorees receive an additional award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for their schools or nominating organizations, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for a nonprofit charitable organization of their choice.
Fall Product
