by Nicolle Patton, GSSI Intern
Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) not only shows
recognition to their girl members that have worked hard for the achievements
they’ve earned, but they also recognize their adult members and volunteers that
dedicate countless hours to helping their troop, community and service units.
At the GSSI Annual Meeting that was held April 1 at
the Holiday Inn in Mt. Vernon, three service units were not only awarded the
President’s Award, which recognizes the efforts of a service-delivery team or
committee whose service in support of delivering the Girl Scout Leadership
Experience surpassed team goals and resulted in significant, measurable impact toward
reaching the council’s overall goals, but the Service Unit Trifecta award as
well.
The Service Unit Trifecta Award is given to Service
Units that have earned the President’s Award for three consecutive years in a
row. The service units that received this prestigious award were Service Unit
54 - Perry County, Service Unit 201 - O’Fallon/Shiloh, SU 201, and Service Unit
202 - ClinClair.
A Service Unit consists of a group of individual
troops in a geographic area that are organized and helped run by a service unit
team made up of volunteers. Service Units often hold area registration nights,
community service events, programs and even camps. They also help provide support for troop
leaders.
The council has seen what the service units that
earned the Service Unit Trifecta Award have done to not only help their girls
and their communities and I wanted to see what lead these women to be a part of
these service unit teams and how they made them stand out from the rest. I was
able to discuss being part of a service unit team with volunteers from two of
the three areas recognized – ClinClair and Perry County.
When asked how they even got involved with Girl Scouts
in the first place, Marsha Shirley from ClinClair said, “I was a Girl Scout
when I was a child. Then, as a young adult, I helped my friend lead her
daughter’s troop. Now that my daughter is old enough, I am her leader and have
been the past five years. Our SUM (Service Unit Manager) went back to school and needed to lighten her work load, so I offered to be a co-SUM.” Shirley said when asked how she became part of her service unit team."
“I first was a Girl Scout myself from second grade
until fourth grade,” said April D. Stanley from Perry County. “I was
reconnected as an adult when I became a step mother to three girls and was
looking for a way to bond with them. I became an assistant leader for their
troop and later a full leader.”
Just like everything that’s done in Girl Scouts,
nothing is done solely by yourself, and I wanted to know exactly who was doing
what in these successful service units to make sure everything was going along
smoothly.
Sometimes, one person takes on multiple roles in a
service unit, which is the case for Stanley who acts as not only the Service
Unit Manager, but the Treasurer and the Orientation Manager too. Alongside her,
there’s Jaci Kelly who does Communications, Patti Bardle who’s the Program
Organizer, Amber Saylor the Product Manager, and Denise Robson who does
Registration.
With so many people working together for the common
goal of enhancing their service unit to create more opportunities for girls and
volunteers, it’s clear to see that hard work gets results. What do these women
think makes their units stand out from the rest?
“We hold a monthly leader meeting, and we host an
event each month.” Shirley stated. “This way, the leaders stay connected, as do
the girls from all of our different troops.”
When asked how ClinClair Service Unit has gone beyond its
goals, Shirley explained, “There are so many people that play a part in our
service unit. With such a great group of people, it is easy to go beyond any
goal that is set in front of us. We hold registration events in each town to
sign up more girls and adults. We push each leader and girl to succeed with all
product sales. When they are excited about something, they will succeed!”
What if an adult volunteer wants to become part of
their service unit team, are there any certain qualities or skills they should
have before applying for these positions? Shirley said, “Leadership skills are
a must! Being organized, creative, excited, encouraging, enthusiastic, and
having the girls best interest at heart are all needed to be part of the
service team.”
About Perry County Service Unit’s excellent
performance, Stanley said, “We have to think outside the box on lot of
situations in our county. We have so many low income families that we have to
look at different ways to get our parents to come out in the public. We have
businesses offer free meals for a registration to also having businesses let us
set up at event to where they are offering certain things to the public -for
example: back pack giveaways, dental exams, free haircuts.”
Stanley and Shirley were both Girl Scouts when they
were younger, so being familiar with the organization and its dedication to
helping build girls up, I wanted to know what they thought the benefits of Girl
Scouts for girls were and what exactly keeps them involved.
Stanley explained that, “Girl Scouting teaches our
girls to be strong, confident. It allows them to do problem solving and to have
a variety of sisters they may have never had.”
She went on to say, “I stay involved to be a positive
role model in the community. We just don’t have a lot of opportunity for our
kids here and to see the smiles of these girls when they attend these events
just makes it so joyful.”
Shirley said, “My troop grows a little each year. We
gain one or two girls each year and many ask about it all year long. So, seeing
the excitement and wanting to try new things really does make all of it
worthwhile. And, I also get to spend
quality time with my daughter!”
We see that girls get so much out of being active in
this organization, but is it the same with adult members and volunteers?
“I believe that I have learned just as much as the
girls have….whether it is a new skill, trade, or even friendship qualities, I
believe they teach me just as much as I teach them!” Shirley said.
Stanley further stated, “Yes I do. If you love working
with kids and making a difference in a young child’s life. It is so rewarding
to hear these girls say we couldn’t wait to get to a scout meeting. Or when is
this event coming? You got to love the
smiles.”
“I love working with these ladies so much. I also love
being out at our events and communicating with our parents of our girls,” Stanley
explained. “But, most of all seeing the smile on these girls faces when you
know they don’t have much to be offered to them at home and they attend an
event held by our team and they have the most awesome time. That just makes me
feel so great inside.”
Stanley and Shirley, along with their fellow service
unit team members, have worked extremely hard to shape their service units into
grounds that not only help the girls learn new things, build their skills, and
encourage them to strive for bigger and better aspirations, but also give adult
members and volunteers the same high flying inspiration. The Trifecta Award
earned by their units are proof of that hard work and determination.
