Eagan Girl Scouts A force in your community

Unless you have young children in your family, you may not realize what an impact the scouts can have on our community. I did not either until my daughter said she wanted to join girl scouts 7 years ago. Since then, we have gone through a journey that I had not expected. I have met the most amazing young ladies who have shown a drive to make a difference in the world. I have been introduced to experiences that I would not have even thought of 7 years ago. I have grown as a parent and as a citizen.

Every family has a comfort zone that limits them from trying some new activities. My kids have been introduced to so many things that we, as a family, would not have taken the initiative to try on our own.  The scouts can take our kids outside our individual family comfort zones. Through the scouts they can try an amazing variety of things to develop interests and strengths that we may never experience otherwise.

Just this year, our 566 Eagan Girl Scouts along with their 319 adult volunteers, have volunteered hundreds of hours towards activites that make our community a more enjoyable city to live in. One event that included hundreds of Eagan girls was our Centennial Day of Service on October 13, 2012. This event, coordinated with the metro wide initiative that included over 25,000 local Girl Scouts giving 62,500 service hours,  protected our local waterways from excessive and harmful algae growth.

On Saturday afternoon, September 15, 2012, Junior Girl Scout Troop #53333, earned their Bronze Award, the highest honor a Junior Girl Scout can earn, required them to learn the leadership and planning skills necessary to follow through on a project that makes a positive impact on their community. Making the world and their local community a better place, they were prepared to teach children through an event called “Sports and Nutrition Day:  Eat + Exercise = Extra Energy.” The six 10 year old Girl Scouts and their supportive families set up six Sports Stations (soccer, volleyball, Frisbee golf, basketball, cheer and dance) plus the Warm-up/Cool-down Station, Snack Station and Welcome Station.  All the sports equipment (soccer nets, volleyball net, basketball net, balls, Frisbees, targets, tarps and mats) and various other equipment (tables, chairs, signs, food prep items, music, flag and stand, shelter, and other things) were placed in their stations.  The girls then organized their previously prepared sports signs, posters, information speech cards about fun facts of the sport each one would teach including some history, equipment, uniform, field or court and a card listing the skills and drills they would be teaching for that sport. They spent the day educating other girls about the benefits of good nutrition and exercise. 

On election day, most of the precincts were given appreciation packages from our girls. A representative of our girls brought snacks to the precincts in the morning to help keep the election judges nourished and focused through out a very long day at the polls. 

These are only three examples of hundreds of service oriented projects our young citizens participate in through out the year. 

But its not all about community service. There are a lot of fun activities that the scouts have an oppurtunity to try. Many organizations have set up special oppurtunities for our kids that make those activities affordable and fun. These activites include professional sports games, science demonstrations, art activities and so much more. Does your organization have something to offer to our future leaders that could enrich their lives? I challenge each person to think about these future citizens and decide if you have something to offer them. Does your workplace manufacture a product that is vital to our lives? Maybe a tour of your facility would give them an interest in your field. Do you service the community in some unique way? Maybe you can introduce that world to our youth to someday pass the baton to one of them down the road.

GSUSA Mission Statement

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

This mission statement illustrates that Girl Scouting offers a girl countless opportunities to expand her boundaries and connect with other girls and her community, in which she can courageously share her heart, confidently speak her mind, and demonstrate the character to lead others.