All Girls Deserve a Chance

My daughter, age 14, has a very good friend named Katelyn.  The girls first met through our Girl Scout troop when they were in 2nd grade.  As a co-leader of the troop, I met other wonderful women, moms like me, who wanted their daughters to learn the value of teamwork and the fun of learning together.

Over the years, the girls learned horseback riding, a little about Japanese culture, defensive safety moves, money management, attended SCSU's Passport to the World cultural event more than once, visited the SCSU planetarium more than once, and got to know each other pretty well.  There was always guaranteed laughter and many questions at every meeting.  Once, my daughter and I created a dance to Japanese drum music.  We taught the dance to the girls and they lined up their moms and taught them the dance moves in theschool hallway.  They learned about self esteem, respect for self and others, and valuing the contributions each person makes.  On a very cold winter night they took money they had earned through cookie sales for the troop and purchased items they used to create birthday bags.  These were then donated to Catholic Charities Emergency Services after we had a tour.  Parents accessing the food shelf and clothing program can pick out one of these birthday bags if they had a daughter having a birthday and could not afford a gift.  It was a pretty special night.  They organized an event about animal care for younger Girl Scout troops in our community.  More than 200 girls and family members attended to learn about pet care; pet a chinchilla and rabbits and dogs; and to contribute money and donated items needed by the Tri County Humane Society.

There were tough times too when we were able to support each other:  loss of grandparents, one of the moms diagnosed with cancer, and one of the girls was bitten on the face by a dog.

Girl Scouts was a great experience for our girls.

United Way of Central Minnesota funds the Girl Growth program and Opportunity Fund of Girl Scouts.  These services help ensure all girls can be part of scouting irregardless of their family income.  All girls deserve that chance.