SU 66 Sponsors 8th Annual Party at Grace Manor

Special thanks to Joni Sanderson of SU 66 for the blog post and photos.

Service Unit 66 likes to encourage the girls to think of their community and their responsibility give back to those who may not be as fortunate.  

Just one of their annual projects includes Service Unit 66’s Grace Manor Nursing Home holiday giving party. December 8, 2012 became the 8th annual party sponsored by the Service Unit. Troops of all ages pick individual resident names from the nursing home’s list, each for whom they plan, purchase and make individualized Christmas presents after viewing the resident’s wish list. 

Then, on a Saturday in early December, all the girls come together to sing Christmas carols for the residents, and followed by a present opening party. The patients, many of who have limited incomes and little to no families find this annual event as a special time to connect with the girls.

Service Unit 8 honors our troops - the Girl Scout way!

Special thanks to Sharon Zhang of Girl Scout Troop 40933 for this blog post.

Last year our school’s principal, a former lieutenant colonel in the army reserve, was called back to active duty in Afghanistan. When he broke the news to us at an assembly, the entire school felt the weight of the message, and everyone held immense respect for his sacrifice. Our principal made a large impact on countless people as a single person, so it is overwhelming to imagine the huge effect that every person in the troops have made on our country by putting their lives in danger for our safety.

To show our gratitude for the sacrifices our servicemen make, five years ago Girl Scout Troop 40933 was introduced to the 142nd Fighter Wing by Trent Hansen, a local guardsman, as our initial contact. The troop began donating boxes of Girl Scout cookies to the  Fighter Wing through the Gift of Caring program, which customers can choose to donate to when approached by Girl Scouts selling cookies.

This year, all the Gift of Caring donations collected in Service Unit 8 will go to Oregon’s 142nd Fighter Wing, and other areas of the military. The fighter wing “guards the western skies from southern Alaska to northern California…in case of any threat to our part of the U.S.,” according to Family Program Director Mary Bell, who takes care of the families of the guard members in addition to collaborating with Girl Scout Service Unit 8 for Gift of Caring cookies. In previous years, providing cookies to the fighter wing has been incredibly successful for Troop 40933 and a few sister troops. Last year, the Girl Scout troops who donated cookies to the 142nd provided about 60 cases (roughly 720 boxes of cookies), with as many as 84 cases in previous years. With the aid of additional Girl Scout troops in Service Unit 8 who will be contributing this year, we hope to donate even more to thank and support our guardsmen.

And do the guardsmen love the Girl Scout cookies! “Our guard members are now to the point that they ask when [the cookies] will be coming. It’s a big event when I get them,” explains Bell. “Girl Scout cookies are like warm hugs – they always bring smiles and then people ask if their favorite cookies are amongst the donated ones…I never have any leftovers. We send some over to [the deployed] wherever they are in the world and some we share with other branches of service who don't get a supply like I get. I put the cookies out all over the base for morale building and our people love them.” As a Girl Scout, seeing how many boxes of cookies are given to the fighter wing each year feels amazing, because I know that each and every box is a symbol of our gratitude to the servicemen and servicewomen for everything they have done.

With the support of customers to our Girl Scouts, this year the entire North Beaverton Service Unit 8 aims to continue donating cookies to the troops as a small but significant token of thanks, because our country is indebted to the undying loyalty and bravery of these men and women.

To support Girl Scouts and the Gift of Caring Program look for Cookie Booth Sales in front of major stores in your area from February 15, 2013 – March 10, 1013 or contact troop 40933 at cookiesfortroops2@gmail.com to donate directly to our troops effort to support the 142nd Fighter Wing.

To find out about Girl Scouts or volunteer opportunities in your area visit the local Girl Scout website at www.girlscoutsosw.org or call our Portland Service Center: 503-977-6800 or 1-800-338-5248.

There are many great places available for girls to send their Gift of Caring cookies! The council works with the Red Cross to donate many Gift of Caring cookies, but girls and troops are welcome to choose their own organization and select one that has special personal meaning to them and helps them better fulfill their Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Girls may also give to multiple organizations.

Girl Scouts in Bend explore at Science Night, hosted by Bend Research

Thank you to GSOSW Bend staff member Sulema Lambert for sharing this blog post! 

Girl Scouts is not all about cookie, arts and crafts. It’s about science! 

Over 30 Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts in Central Oregon attended a science night for girls hosted by Bend Research. The girls made observations about polycarbon bonds. They hypothesized about sound waves, observing them being represented by fire, changing to a catchy beat.

Girl Scouts observe sound waves demonstrated with fire

Girls also learned a cheer about the phases of matter, and then learned more about those phases with liquid nitrogen, balloons and flowers. They were also able to observe tiny specimens with an electron microscope - did you know that salamanders are actually covered in tiny hairs?

The Girl Scouts had so much fun at the event! A big "thank you" from 30 scientists-in-the-making to Bend Research for showing us that scientists are really big kids with better toys! 

Did you have a fun event, service project or other Girl Scout activity or idea you'd like to submit for the blog? Email Rebekah at rhubbard@girlscoutsosw.org.

Council Sponsored Trip Chaperones Needed! – ETC’s please spread the word!

Calling all volunteers interested in Travel!  We are doing a council wide search for lead and secondary travel chaperones for council sponsored trips. These volunteers will help to plan and provide supervision for the following trips:

Portland Mystery Tour – June 19, 2013

One day trip within Portland area.  It’s a Mystery! Chaperones and parents will be notified of the trip itinerary.

Seattle by Storm – June 22-26, 2013

Ride the train to Seattle and experience Seattle’s panoramic view while eating lunch at the Space Needle, shop the famous Pike’s Street Market, visit the Woodland Parks Zoo and much more! 

Medford Mystery Tour – August 14, 2013

One day trip within the Southern Oregon area.  It’s a Mystery! Chaperones and parents will be notified of the trip itinerary.

Universal Studios Orlando – Spring Break 2014

Enjoy both the Universal Studios Florida Theme Park and Universal’s Islands of Adventure Theme Park, including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Airfare, food, transportation and park tickets included.

Norjam - August 9-16, 2014

Join over 5000 young people for the 14^th International Scout and Guide Jamboree near Norwich in the United Kingdom for an exciting week of activities, fun, excitement , new experiences and a chance to build a lifetime of memories and friendships. 2014’s theme is ‘Back in Time’.  Norjam will include activities like scuba, sailing, rafting, skiing, rock climbing, crafts etc. See more on the website: norjam.org.uk

Fill out this application to apply by April 1, 2013.

Send completed applications to Jennifer Akins at jakins@girlscoutsosw.org  

GSOSW employees share their favorite camp memories

This might not surprise you, but many of the staffers at Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington were Girl Scouts as young women, too! We asked some of our staff members to share their favorite memory or their favorite thing about Girl Scout Camp.

Program Guide cover contest is now open!

Show what Girl Scout program means to you through art, and your creation could be the cover of the next Program Guide! GSOSW is now accepting entries to appear on the 2013 Spring/Summer Program Guide cover.

Accepted formats include photos, handmade creations or digitally-created artworks. The art must be created by a girl member of GSOSW. If the entry is a photo, it must be digital and high resolution (point-and-shoot camera files are usually large enough to use, but phone photos will not print properly and thus not be considered). 

The artwork must be in color and large-enough format to print well on an 8.5x11 inch sheet. Hand-drawn or digital entries should be about 8.5x11 inches. All photos featuring people must have proper permission for use (Girls and adults may already have given permission on their membership form. If not, they may also give permission using Form #002).

Please email a high-resolution file or scan of your entry to Rebekah Hubbard at rhubbard@girlscoutsosw.org or send via USPS to 9620 SW Barbur Blvd., Portland, OR, 97219. The deadline for entry is February 12. 

If you do not receive a response within 24 hours from Rebekah confirming receipt of your, your file may have been too big for the email system. If that is the case, please call Rebekah at 503-977-6860 to see if the artwork has come in or discuss an alternate way to send the art in.

GSOSW staff member Alanna Beckwith featued in NOVAA Member Spotlight!

Congratulations to GSOSW Volunteer Support Coordinator Alanna Beckwith, who was featured this week on the Northwest Oregon Volunteer Administrators Association's Member Spotlight!

She has some great things to say about Girl Scout volunteers in her Q&A:  "Girl Scout volunteers are some of the most dedicated volunteers I have ever met. They are the epitome of our mission 'building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.' As a side effect, we often build VOLUNTEERS of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place!"

Alanna says her biggest accomplishment as a volunteer administrator is "learning how to handle conflict in a professional, respectful way. When I first started at this job, over four years ago, I was intimidated by conflict. I didn’t know where to begin. I feel that I have overcome that initial fear and learned how to work through the conflict to help resolve it."

Read the full interview over at NOVAA's website.