alumni

Gold Award Girl Scout Anna Jegierski shows the sustainability of her project

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A major component of a Gold Award project is its sustainability, so we love hearing how Anna and her sister Paige are continuing this work!

Girl Scout alum Anna Jegierski was home from Alfred State College for winter break and continued to spread the word and Take Action for Danny’s Helping Hands.

Danny’s Helping Hands was part of Anna’s 2019 Gold Award project and has been serving the students at Alden Middle School since the Fall of 2018.

Recently, Anna discussed her project and collected 4 large boxes of hygiene products that were generously donated by the Alden Garden Club. She then delivered the items to the Alden Middle School for use by students in need. A hygiene cabinet and bank account were established as part of the project, and both benefit students who are being bullied due to lack of good personal hygiene.

Anna has been receiving help with carrying on this project from her sister, Paige, an Ambassador Girl Scout currently working towards her own Gold Award Project. Anna is happy that she still receives support for Danny’s Helping Hands from the kind and generous community of Alden. Anna shared her thanks for the ladies of the Alden Garden Club!

Honoring Patricia Whittington’s more than 50 years of service

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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.

Invest in a Lifetime Membership

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Becoming a lifetime member of Girl Scouts is about more than just recognizing the impact the organization had on your life—it’s about realizing the impact you can have on girls today.

Girl Scouts provides girls with programming in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); the outdoors; entrepreneurship; and life skills—areas essential to preparing them for a lifetime of leadership, success, and adventure. Your investment in lifetime membership ensures that girls always have the support they need to reach their full potential and change the world.

In fact, the moment you sign up as a lifetime member, you’ve already made the difference in the life of a girl. A $25 portion of your lifetime membership dues goes back to your local council to fund a one-year membership for an underserved girl. You know Girl Scouts can be a life-changing experience—and you can give that to a girl who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

Lifetime membership is available to any individual who accepts the principles and beliefs of the Girl Scout Promise and Law, pays the one-time lifetime membership fee, and is at least 18 years old (or a high school graduate or equivalent).

Ordinarily, lifetime membership dues are $400 with a “young alum” price of $200, given to former Girl Scouts under the age of 30. This month, however, that price is opened up to a larger audience.

Because April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, we want to thank those who have been with us for 10 years or more. As a special promotion this month, these volunteers can purchase the membership for $200. As a note, the 10 years must be volunteer years alone—your years as a Girl Scout do not count toward this promotion. You can upgrade when you go to renew through MyGS or through the Lifetime Membership website.

Other benefits of a lifetime membership include:

  • LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP CARD AND PIN—COMING SPRING 2019
  • 10% OFF GIRL SCOUT MERCHANDISE PURCHASED ONLINE
  • INVITATION TO JOIN AN ANNUAL CALL FOR LIFETIME MEMBERS HOSTED BY GSUSA’S CEO
  • INVITATIONS TO EXCLUSIVE LOCAL AND NATIONAL EVENTS
  • MONTHLY ENEWSLETTER FOR GIRL SCOUT ALUMS
  • OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA’S EXCLUSIVE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP SCARF IN SUMMER 2019!

Girl Scouts announces partnership with LinkedIn

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This has been a week of exciting announcements for Girl Scouts. On April 3, they unveiled a partnership with The North Face, coinciding with the launch of the brand’s first-ever global initiative focused on women called Move Mountains. This multiyear collaboration will focus on working together to prepare the next generation of female explorers to empower themselves.

Continuing the theme of empowered leaders, today GSUSA announced a partnership with LinkedIn to connect all Girl Scout alums. LinkedIn will offer a community of support for female professionals and help enhance their career development. It will also allow alums the opportunity to share their experience with the next generation and join forces with like-minded women to effect change.

All Girl Scout alums, regardless of how long they were in the program are invited to connect with one another on The Girl Scout Network. Of course, we definitely think you should join!

This collaboration marks the first time that GSUSA will have the ability to track the life experiences and success of Girl Scout alums using LinkedIn’s community of more than 546 million members. GSUSA will do this by utilizing information from the public profiles of alums, such as: education, career fields, and leadership positions to identify trends, deficits, and opportunities for women in the workplace. This information will help Girl Scouts create relevant and impactful programs and experiences for girls in our council and beyond.

At a time when stories about unequal and unethical treatment of women continue to populate headlines across the United States, The Girl Scout Network will energize female professionals to take the reins and be trailblazers in our country and the world. It will offer inspiring personal stories from girls and alums as well as ways to support and help prepare girls to lead.

Girl Scouts’ legacy is one of girls and women supporting one another and effecting change through civic engagement be it in Western New York or elsewhere. The Girl Scout Network allows us to work with GSUSA to better prepare and mobilize more girls to make the world a better place.