Today marks the passing of Juliette Gordon Low on January 17, 1927. The following obituary appeared in The New York Times the next day.
She passed away in the Low home in Savannah, GA, after a battle with breast cancer and complications surrounding the treatments of the time.
We appreciate all she did for girls and how her legacy continues to impact the lives of millions of girls, volunteers, and communities across America and beyond.
While many of her peers were talking Woodstock back in 1969, Patricia Whittington was also talking Girl Scouts. She had joined the Girl Scouts while a young girl as they advocated for civil rights and launched an initiative to overcome prejudice.
She was there as a young adult when the actress Debbie Reynolds (who was a troop leader) headed a project to introduce the Girl Scouts to under-served communities while building value for the older girls. Soon she would be a part of their work to improve understanding of ecology with a new environmental education program.
Patricia Whittington joined the Girl Scouts in the early 1950’s and earned her First Class and Curved Bars as a Girl Scout. As an adult and parent her service never stopped. In addition to numerous stints as a Troop Leader and Cookie Manager, she served in various leadership capacities for the Aurora Service Unit, which helps coordinate all the local troops. She’s also volunteered regionally for the Girls Scouts of Buffalo & Erie County and served as a delegate at national conferences.
While much has changed since her first days, the core values of the Girl Scouts has remained the same, and Patricia Whittington has loaned her time and talents to the organization in every one of those years. All four of her daughters were active Girl Scouts and remain involved as adults as Troop Leaders and managers for the East Aurora Unit.
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 the Girl Scouts in East Aurora recognized the retiring leader and volunteer by dedicating a Little Free Library and a park bench at the Aurora Community Pool Park at 690 South Street in her honor. A second bench was also installed to salute Girl Scouts of the past, present and future. Members of her family, friends, other leaders, and many of the Girl Scouts whose lives she touched were present for the surprise presentation.
The dedication was organized by Girl Scout Calissa Rosinski, who built the library and coordinated signage for the occasion, as part of her Silver Award. The Immaculate Conception graduate and incoming East Aurora High School freshmen is the daughter of Kelly & Philip Rosinski of East Aurora.
The Girl Scouts of Western New York’s Pittsford Service Unit recently hosted a menstrual pad packing party to help local girls and women.
Girl Scouts sixth grade and up met on a day off of school to assemble the kits which included 4 pads, 2 liners, a hand sanitizer, a friendship bracelet, a Scensibles disposal bag, and instructions for use, as well as positive messages. The kits were assembled for in-need schools in the Rochester City School District where girls sometimes miss classes or use unsanitary solutions because of their lack of access to supplies. Forty girls gathered at the Pittsford Library for the event and were able to pack 2000 period supply kits.
Sophia Schulitz, a Senior Girl Scout, said, “Period insecurity is scary! Girls around the world miss school or are bullied for this. I am glad we can help some of the girls in our community!”
The Pittsford Service Unit hopes that by providing the kits to girls and making menstrual care something normal to talk about they can end period insecurity and empower girls their own age.
This is the third year the service unit worked with Scensibles, which provided the disposal bags for free and helped the girls organize the party. This includes 2000 pink satin pouches, 8000 sanitary pads, 4000 hand wipes, 4000 Scensibles bags, and 2000 friendship bracelets. This project is an important part of the company’s charitable efforts.
The girls also received $750 from the Pittsford Rotary Club to support their project. This allowed them to increase the size of the kits from previous years of working on this project. Additional supplies were donated to the Pittsford Food Cupboard to assist women in the community who need the supplies.
We all know how fun it is to be a Girl Scout, and this winter we’re spreading the word! For the third year, we’re holding our Snow Much Fun to Be a Girl Scout contest for service units and new troops!
Girl Scout isn’t just fun because of the different activities and opportunities available for the girls, but more importantly because of why our program exists. We’re here to help build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place, and we have more than 100 years of experience in doing just that.
Whether you’re a new troop forming or a service unit looking to grow, we have opportunities for you to get great prizes. From January 13 to March 2, we have multiple chances for you to win.
Service Unit Contest
Every service unit has two chances to win $100!
IMPORTANT: If you want to participate in the SU Snow Much Fun contest, you must submit this form: http://bit.ly/2020snowmuchfun
Make sure you promote the New Troop Contest at your events!
New Troop Contest
If you start a new troop between January 13 and March 2, 2020, you can win a $50 gift card. The first 10 new troops with 2 approved leaders and at least 8 girls will receive a $50 gift card to Walmart, Joanne Fabrics, or our GSWNY shop.
Get started today by visiting bit.ly/GSWNYnewtroop to learn about starting a troop and to complete a New Troop Request form. Once we know you’re interested, we’ll help you get started!
Thank you to everyone who joins in our mission!
If you have any questions, please contact Customer Care at 1-888-837-6410 or customercare@gswny.org.
[This post was submitted to us from Troop 20173. If you’d like to have your story featured, email communications@gswny.org]
“Repeat after me: ‘I am extraordinary!'”
“I am extraordinary!”
Girls from Girl Scout Cadette Troop 20173 came together at Daemen College recently to celebrate their uniqueness during the first ever G.I.R.L. Experience Conference there.
They listened to keynote speakers, all strong women who are masters in their respective fields, talk about how they overcame obstacles to follow their path. The women represented Girl Scouts’ G.I.R.L. traits: Go-getter, Risk-taker, Innovator, and Leader.
Desiree paid special attention to Holly Hubert, FBI cyber crimes unit expert and CEO of Global Security IQ. Eleven-year-old Desiree has dreamed of being an FBI agent herself.
“Venus was my favorite. She was so funny,” said Lilly. Venus Quates, founder and CEO of Launch Tech and GSWNY board member told the girls how she took her “weirdness” and embraced it, eventually becoming the first woman of color to own a tech company in Western New York. Her humor won over the girls, allowing her message to resonate.
“I loved the aerialists. I could’ve watched them all day,” Grace said. Members of Aerial Arts of Rochester, a circus school owned by Jennifer D’Ovidio who was one of the speakers, performed in the Hall of Experiences for the girls.
In addition, the girls met Alison Wilcox, CEO of Girl Scouts of Western New York. She gave them each a CEO patch to mark the occasion and talked about growing up in a remote area of Canada with a houseful of siblings.
Other experiences at the event included a taste of self defense, practicing plate-spinning, climbing a rock wall outside on a very cold day, various arts and crafts, and many other activities.
The inspiring event was a good prelude to G.I.R.L. 2020, the national Girl Scout convention. The three-day-event will be held in Orlando, FL, and Troop 20173 has plans to attend. After bridging over the Golden Gate Bridge in April 2019, the girls are eager for their next adventure.
New year, new chances to buy Girl Scout cookies! Okay, so maybe that’s not a thing, but it should be because the Girl Scout Cookie Program is upon us. Online orders kicked off last month with in-person cookie orders starting next week.
With so many dates, we thought we’d provide an overview of what you need to know:
If you have any questions about Girl Scout Cookies, contact our Customer Care department at 1-888-837-6410 and customercare@gswny.org.
For Cookie Sellers: if you’d like a more detailed timeline, including information about the lottery, Smart Cookies, order submission deadlines, and more, visit gswny.org.
Wishing you and your family a healthy and prosperous 2020 from everyone at Girl Scouts of Western New York! We can’t wait to see what this year will bring.
