Dear Members and Friends,
So many of our members have experienced and continue to experience
challenges with COVID, social distancing, distance learning, racial
injustice, financial hardship, and wildfires. And yet, we see girls
and volunteers all around us taking action to make the world a better
place.
I am inspired by your resilience and love for our communities. Thank you for making masks, running food drives, sending thank you notes (and cookies) to first-responders, providing a safe space for girls, and supporting each other.
We understand that for some families it is hard to make time for Girl Scouts right now. Please know that we are here for you when you and your girl are ready.
This update shares news on:
- New Programs and new ways to find programs for individual girls and troops
- Leadership and sisterhood for girls in grades 6–12
- Increasing access to Girl Scouts for girls who live in low-income communities
- Introducing your friends and community to Girl Scouts
- Celebrating our wonderful volunteers
- Supporting girls and troops through our fall take action product program
- Call for Service Unit Delegate Nominations (girls and adults, and you may nominate yourself)
- Report on 55th National Council Session
- Fire recovery update
- COVID-19—our commitment to do our part to reduce community transmission
- Progress on our commitment to be an anti-racist organization
New Programs and new ways to find programs for individual girls and troops:
We are learning so many new skills and ways of creating and
delivering impactful and fun Girl Scout Experiences. Service units,
day camps, older girl troops, troop leaders, and staff—all working
together to design and deliver fun and impactful programs for girls at
all age levels, in troops and as well as for individual girls.
Earlier this month we launched a new Events Calendar, developed with input from girls and volunteers. The goal: make it easier to find (and register for) programs by date, grade level, theme, cost, location, and length of program.
Our program and outdoor program staff team (with support from our service unit program support managers) has designed online workshops to help girls earn many different badges!
Popular programs this October, have included:
- Sunday FUN Day—a celebration of our new Girl Scout year, complete with a rededication celebration and very sweet version of On My Honor, sung by members of a Saratoga Daisy/Brownie troop.
- Fall Fun Camp-Alongs for Daisies and Brownies and Juniors and Cadettes
- Tajar’s Treehouse Campfire—held October 25, from 4pm–9pm, with s’mores and a virtual campfire
November will have many more amazing programs, so be sure to check them out on our Events Calendar at events.gsnorcal.org.
Leadership and sisterhood for girls in grades 6-12:
This fall we have a record number of girls working on Silver
and Gold Awards and have shifted members of our staff team to support
them in their work. I encourage you to check out the Events Calendar for girls in grades 6-- 12.
Here are examples of programs for girls in grades 6–12 this October:
- Outdoor Leadership Training
- Astronomy Club
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging
- 101 Senior and Ambassador Democracy Badge
- Speaker’s Bureau Club
While we miss being together in person, we also love the fact that girls from all parts of our council are able to participate in these leadership programs. As we emerge from COVID, we will have new ways to connect with each other. And I can’t wait to get back on track with fundraising (and construction) for The Hub activity center at Bothin. Imagine all these virtual friends, joining together at camp to build on their projects and friendship!
Increasing access to Girl Scouts for girls who live in low-income communities.
A few days ago, I visited our Alameda office to sign some
documents, and was delighted to check-in with members of our Community
Partners team, busy preparing these wonderful backpacks with materials
for eight weeks of at-home Girl Scout Discover Together programs. We
are so excited to be providing opportunities for more girls to earn
badges and build healthy relationships. Here is a fun video from a member of our Community
Partners team that explains more about what the girls will do!
Thank you for supporting our Opportunity Fund. Your generous support is helping us reach more girls who deserve our support during this challenging time!
Introducing your friends and community to Girl Scouts.
If you have friends and neighbors whose girls miss their school
friends, encourage them to check out Girl Scouts. Learning about Girl
Scouts virtually has never been easier, and we have lots of fun ways
for girls to give Girl Scouts a try:
- Every Wednesday at 6:30–7:30 PM: Discover Girl Scouts for all interested girls and their families from all GSNorCal areas.
- Every Monday at 7–7:30 PM: Girl Scouts Open House for New Families—join us to learn how Girl Scouts can support the girl in your life.
- Find a virtual event for girls and families in your county, community, or school to learn more about new or existing troops in your local area!
Celebrating our wonderful volunteers.
I enjoyed attending three wonderful Zoom Volunteer Recognition
Celebrations earlier this month. A huge thank you to all of you who
nominated volunteers and to our Volunteer Recognition Task Group, who
reviewed and approved nominations. This year we celebrated a record
185 volunteers, and Amy Burke, our Manager for Governance and Adult
Recognition, gathered videos from staff and volunteers celebrating the
contributions of each volunteer we recognized! The Zoom events were
fun, fast-moving, and super inspiring! Thanks to all. And, speaking of
thanks, the Thanks Badge and Thanks Badge II are the highest honors
for Girl Scout volunteers. Congratulations to this year’s special honorees:
- Thanks Badge: Monica Patterson and Jean Sheppard
- Thanks Badge II: Daisy Kiehn
Supporting girls and troops through our fall take action product
program. This fall, girls are raising funds for Girl Scouts and
supporting sloth conservation with our annual nut, candy and
magazine Fall Take Action
Program.
With COVID impacting in-person sales this
year, we have a new way for communities to locate and support Girl
Scout entrepreneurs. Just enter your zipcode and the store locator will find a
participating Girl in your area! A great use of technology to focus on
safety and equity, and a new way to amplify girls’ entrepreneurship
during COVID. Thank you for your support! We are testing this for
Cookie Program 2021 and look forward to feedback from our
entrepreneurs.
Call for Service Unit Delegate
Nominations (girls and adults, and you may nominate
yourself). Each service unit is entitled to elect delegates who attend our
annual meeting (scheduled for April 17, 2021), elect our board and
Board Development Committee, and provide input to our Board of
Directors on the council’s strategic priorities. Any adult and girl
members age 14 and older can nominate
themselves online November 2–30, and election voting will start on
January 4.
55th National Council Session: We just
completed a marathon 3-day, first-ever virtual National Council
Session meeting! 1,200 Girl Scout delegates from around the world
elected our National Board of Directors and debated and voted on six
Proposals, including two Constitutional Amendments. GSNorCal's
twenty-seven delegates and four alternates (including ten girls) were
prepared, engaged, and enthusiastic!
As always, there
were lots of motions and amendments, appeals, and points of order
along the way. The process is important, providing our elected
National Council Delegates with the opportunity to ask questions,
share different points of view, decide when to "call the
question," and when to end debate. There were a few bumps in the
road with technology, but all-in-all, I think Girl Scouts and all of
our delegates can be proud of the virtual meeting we were able to hold
in the midst of a global pandemic. Democracy is both messy and
inspiring! The final day (Sunday) began at 7am for our delegation,
voting ended at 7:41pm, and the National Council Session meeting ended
at 8:30pm. At the end, our delegates each shared a single word to
describe the experience, and one of our wonderful delegates turned our
words into this reminder of our powerful shared experience!
Also announced: Mark your calendars for the 56th National Council
Session, July 2023, in Orlando, Florida! July is a change from our
fall tradition, with a goal of making it easier for more girls to
attend.
Fire recovery update: Thank you to all who
are contributing to our Camp Investment Campaign to support recovery
from the CZU Fire that burned through Camp Skylark Ranch and right up
to the edge of our buildings at Camp Butano Creek. To date, we have
received over 75 gifts, ranging from $10 to $5000. It will take years
for the forest to recover—and your donations over time
will make a difference. Like this resilient banana slug at Skylark
Ranch, slow and steady, we will be back!
We are fortunate to have a strong team of staff and experts guiding our recovery process, and when it is safe, we will include volunteers and girls in our recovery work. Both camps remain closed as we assess forest safety, restore water and power, and, at Skylark Ranch, also assess road safety and hazardous debris removal. As hard as is to see the intense fire damage at Skylark Ranch, it also is inspiring to bear witness to nature’s awesome power to renew itself and to restore us.
COVID-19 and our commitment to do our part to reduce community transmission.
Thank you for practicing social distancing, wearing masks, and respecting the advice from public health experts to stay within our household bubbles as much as possible. We are happy to see troops in yellow and orange tier counties starting to meet in person outside, subject to their county requirements, with distancing and masks. We also appreciate that all Girl Scout troops in red and purple tier counties are continuing to meet online only. Only with all of us working together within these guidelines can we protect our communities. Thank you for your hard work!
Progress on our commitment to be an anti-racist organization.
This month, we published a new Volunteer
Policy, conducted two webinars for service unit team members,
volunteer run camp directors, and learning facilitators to introduce
the Volunteer Policy, and launched a “sold out” Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion and Belonging workshop for high school girls. 25 girls
participated from all parts of our council. Our girls are enthusiastic
and want to learn how to become anti-racist leaders and how best to
support Girl Scouts to be an anti-racist organization. Our next
webinar will be for troop leaders the week of November 9th!
Stay-tuned. Of course, we also welcome your questions and
suggestions! Please send them to info@gsnorcal.org.
Becoming an
anti-racist organization is a journey, and we each are in different
places on this journey. Our shared destination is to build a council
where more girls and families believe Girl Scouts is for them, and our
girls are empowered leaders who make the world a better place for
all.
Thank you for all that you do for Girl Scouts and
for girls.
In Girl Scouting,
Marina H. Park, CEO
Girl Scouts
of Northern California
