A New Way to Meet Seniors' Needs

Today's featured Gold Girl Scout is Ella Fischer who created a program to rent medical equipment to senior citizens. Congratulations, Ella, on earning your Gold Award!

My name is Ella Fischer. I am from Troop 1473 out of the Pecan Trail Service Unit. For my Gold Award project, I worked with Drive a Senior to create Ollie’s Closet. Ollie's Closet loans medical equipment to senior citizens who do not have access to medical equipment due to various financial situations. In the process I helped write a grant to pay for the building and purchase software for an inventory and asset control program.  

First, I moved, cleaned, inventoried, barcoded, and entered all of the equipment into a barcoding system. Next, I added a loft and braces to hang walkers and crutches and started moving all of the equipment inside. Lastly, I trained personnel at the Drive a Senior office on how the system works.  This all will allow the organization to better serve their 500 clients and to help them keep track of what is needed in their loan closet for the future.

 My journey towards earning my Gold Award is one that I will never forget. Through Girl Scouts, many new doors have opened for me and even more now that I have earned my Gold Award. The adventures and experiences that I have been able to be a part of, as well as all the things I've learned, all became possible by being in Girl Scouts and striving for Gold. I have also met many inspiring and interesting individuals along the way. There are always challenges involved in accomplishing great things, but the feeling I have now that I've earned my Gold Award is very rewarding. My encouragement towards others to pursue earning their Gold Award is tremendous based on the amazing experience I had and the feeling of happiness I gained from helping others. 

Girl Scouts are Outdoor Explorers

Guest Post: Girl Scouts are Outdoor Explorers

Guest Post from Vicki Wright, GSUSA Outdoor Initiative Lead, Lifetime Girl Scout, Former CEO of multiple Girl Scout Councils

Girl Scouts Launches Inaugural Badge Series Chosen by Girls

This year, on its 103^rd Anniversary, Girl Scouts is celebrating our commitment to providing fun and beneficial outdoor experiences for girls with the launch of a new series of outdoor badges, chosen by Girl Scouts themselves.

Outdoor experiences are an integral part of Girl Scouts and are woven into Girl Scout program in such a way that girls feel comfortable trying new things and testing their limits, and gain confidence and acquire new skills in a safe and supportive all-girl environment. From a relaxed nature hike through the forests to teaming up on a wildlife conservation project to high-adventure rock-climbing, Girl Scouts offers girls a variety of opportunities to learn and grow inside and out.

My first experience with Girl Scouts was in an outdoor setting where I learned to become comfortable in the outdoors and with myself.  I did not understand at the time all that I was learning while having so much fun.  I can honestly say that my love for the outdoors came from those experiences and truly molded the person I became.

In the month of November, GSUSA began the polling process for the Girls’ Choice Outdoor Badges by inviting girls to vote on a diverse option of outdoor badge themes. Outdoor Explorer emerged as the overall theme, with five age specific Badge offerings: Outdoor Adventurer, Horseback Riding, Archery, Paddling and Ultimate Recreation Challenge.

But why is this so important to us?

According to our research (Girl Scout Research Institute’s study, More Than S’mores), girls benefit immensely from time outdoors. Girls who spend time outdoors eclipse their peers in environmental stewardship, more readily seek challenges, and are better problem solvers, all of which are traits needed for 21st century leadership.

Outdoor experiences through Girl Scouting, such as camp, are beneficial to girl leadership development across ethnicities. Latina (38 percent) and African American (40 percent) girls are more likely than their peers (28 percent) to say they overcame a fear of the outdoors through Girl Scouting; seventy-nine percent of Latina girls say they first tried an outdoor activity in Girl Scouts, and an overwhelming 59 percent of Latina girls say Girl Scouts has offered them outdoor activities they would not have otherwise had access to.

Simply put, this is important to us because it is important to girls. Once exposed to the outdoors, girls love it.  And, now more than ever, research shows us that getting outdoors is so important to the physical, social and psychological development of our girls and the health of our planet.

We want to get more girls outdoors, more often and in varied ways. Please join us in this effort.

"Discover, Connect, and Take Action: Girls Change the World"—GSCTX at the 2014 Girl Scouts national convention

"On Wednesday, October 15^th Texas bound girls headed for Salt Lake City, Utah. Why you ask? For the 53^rd annual Girl Scout National Convention, of course! 

Twenty representatives made up of girls, volunteers, staff and board members represented Girl Scouts of Central Texas among the 6,000 participants in the week-long conference. Scouts who are members of GSUSA flew in from all over the world to participate in delegate sessions, Girl Scout leadership institute (GSLI) activities, meeting with collaborators, and listening to inspirational speakers. International guests and Girl Scouts were welcome too, introducing our girls to Girl Scouting outside of the states. Our GSLI girls represented the entire council area and were chosen to work on projects in their communities from the information they gained at the convention. 

Right now, our girls are working on such topics as addressing basic needs, education, teen violence and gender equality. Discover, Connect and Take Action was the theme of the conference and after meeting our new board, learning great ideas and sharing general practices our girls, staff and volunteers are ready to Take Action and change the world! The next conference will be held in Columbus, Ohio in 2017."

Thanks to Emily Magnotta for sharing the excitement of the national convention with us. We can't wait to see the projects our Girl Scouts will take on after this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Girl Experience Special Announcement: Outdoor Badge Voting

Girl Experience Special Announcement! When asked what the girls should do, Juliette Gordon Lowe responded, “What do the girls WANT to do?” During the national convention, GSUSA announced that starting in the fall 2015 program year, girls will be able to enjoy new outdoor badges and they want your input into what those badges will be. Girl Scout Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors will vote first on an outdoor badge content area (i.e.: Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Environment, or Outdoor Survival). Once there is a majority vote on the content area, girls will vote on the actual badge topic (i.e.: Hiking, Camping, Trail Blazing, etc.). Click here for more details!

This is going to be great!