Monday, May 24, 2010

Barber's Dairy Supports GSNCA

Pictured: Lew McCravy, Barber's General Manager
and GSNCA CEO Trish Coghlan.
This past cookie season Barber's Dairy, a Dean Foods company, supported GSNCA through their Milk and Cookie partnership with coupons with a purchase of Girl Scout cookies. Now, they continue their support of our programs with a $5,000 donation. Thank you Barber's!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Troop 1004 Coordinates Leader/Daughter Tea Party

Pictured: Mandrea and Faith
On May 13, Troop 1004 in Cold Springs, coordinated a Leader/Daughter Tea Party. The event was hosted by the Cullman Service Unit and held at Living Faith Church in Good Hope. Attendees were asked to come dressed as their favorite princess. Several Snow Whites and Sleeping Beauties were spotted wearing their tiaras and gowns! Everyone brought new or gently used teddy bears to be given to local law enforcement, firemen and rapid responders. These stuffed animals were collected for children who have been in traumatic situations.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Taylor "Keeps it Together" with Her Service Project

Pictured: Girls from Service Unit 34 with Mike Sublett
Service Unit 34 member Taylor Humphrey was recently recognized at a City Council meeting for her work on her “Keeping it Together” service project. After giving a short speech, Taylor along with her service unit, received certificates and awards from Mayor Tommy Battle and Fire and Rescue Chief Mike Sublett. Taylor and her troop bought the materials to make blankets and also collected stuffed bears to donate to the local Fire and Rescue Department. These blankets and stuffed animals will be used to comfort children who have been in a traumatic incident.


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Oak Mountain Girls Trot with Sea Turtles

Troop 188 members Erin Clarke, Mary Elizabeth Carlton, Victoria Huddleston, Ashley Rushton, Anna Caroline Griffith, Shelby Gustin and Cameron Kelley have just returned from Savannah, Georgia. The girls enjoyed a fun weekend filled with earning badges and giving service hours. Some highlights of the trip include visiting the house of Juliet Gordon Lowe and participating in the 5K Turtle Trot. After the race they girls watched as two loggerhead sea turtles were released back into the ocean after being rehabilitated. The girls also climbed the lighthouse on Tybee Island and ate at the famous Paula Dean’s restaurant.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Vestavia Girls Earn Bronze Award

Savannah, Emma, Samantha, Meredith, Hannah, Olivia, Katie and Greta of Troop 445 chose to help the Oak Mountain Wildlife Center for their Bronze Award project. Each spring the Oak Mountain Wildlife Center has several baby song birds that come into the center and need rehabilitation. In order to keep them safe and secure, the bird cages need nets—so the girls chose to make the nets for the cages. Making the nets included cutting, sewing and pulling elastic through the nets. The girls enjoyed knowing that they were doing good things for the animals and enjoyed working as a team. Even though the project seemed overwhelming at times, the girls were proud of their accomplishment and learned new things while also making an impact.

Troop 141 members Stephanie, Anna, Abbey, Haley, Cameron and Elizabeth learned that bottle caps are not always properly disposed of can be thrown in the ocean and cause sea animals to choke. For their Bronze Award project, the troop decided they would collect and recycle bottle caps. The girls sent a note home at a local elementary school to let the students know about their project. Their instructions were to put the bottle caps in Ziploc bags in multiples of five and ten. They handed out baskets for the bottle caps to be put in and at the end of every two weeks they collected them and counted them and then turned over the bottle caps to be recycled. Over nine weeks, these Girl Scouts collected more than 52,000 bottle caps. They liked that they could help the earth, but also wished they could have spent more time at the school teaching the students more about the importance of recycling. The girls really felt a sense of accomplishment that they had made a difference in their world by helping protect animals that might have been in danger from the bottle caps.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Jemison Girl Earns Bronze Award Through Honoring Flags

As a Girl Scout, Abigail understands the importance of showing honor to our flag through a flag ceremony. Her project, Flag Retirement Ceremony, shows the importance of retiring a flag as well. Abigail held a U.S. Flag Retirement Ceremony and explained each step while her fellow Girl Scouts performed the ceremony. Then each person was given a small piece of a flag to put on the fire. Abigail knows that she performed a service to the community by respectfully retiring U.S. flags. Abigail showed her true Girl Scout and patriotic spirit by wanting to share her knowledge with others.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Help the Girl Scouts of Virgina Skyline Council

The Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council was selected as one of several finalists for the Pepsi Refresh Grant at the $25,000 award level. The grant was written by two GSVSC girl members, Sam and Meredith, and requests money to build the first platform tent units at Icimani Adventure Center. But we need your help! The grant recipient is selected based on the number of votes received. To vote, visit the Pepsi Refresh by following this link: www.refresheverything.com.

Once on the site, look for the project in "The Planet" section, then under the $25,000 section. The project is entitled “Inspire girls to appreciate, advocate for and protect the planet,” then simply click to vote. You can vote once a day from each email address. This is a wonderful opportunity so please remember to VOTE everyday from as many email accounts as you have and PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD to family, friends, co-workers, etc. The deadline to vote is May 31st. Pepsi awards the top 10 vote getters and we are currently number 14.

Directions:

1. Visit www.refresheverything.com/backtonature

2. Click “sign in” in the bottom left hand corner. You may sign in with your e-mail account, facebook account, or both. Use your facebook password if you sign in with facebook. Make up a password if you sign in with your e-mail account.

3. Click “Vote for this idea” in the top right hand corner.

4. The website gives each account 10 votes per day. You may not give an idea more than one vote though. The best way for us to win is if you ONLY vote for our idea.

5. Voting lasts until May 31st

6. Add this page to your “favorites” so you can vote everyday! Please tell all your friends and spread the word to help our sister Girl Scouts!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Stamp Out Hunger This Saturday

This Saturday, May 8, is the 17th annual Stamp Out Hunger! Food Drive sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Don’t forget to leave your non-perishable food donation in a bag on/by/in your mailbox this Saturday!! Visit http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/ for more information!

Hoover Girls Earn Bronze Awards

Kaitlyn and Megan of Troop 108 knew that a local nursing home’s courtyard really needed sprucing up. This was an area that the residents enjoyed, but had not been maintained, so Kaitlyn and Megan decided they would take this on as their Bronze Award project. They met with the director and developed their plan of how to change the look of the courtyard to make it more inviting and attract wildlife. They planted flowers, weeded and spruced up the area. Since the girls had to decide what to buy to put in the gardens, they had to learn about plants. There was a lot of physical work involved, but when the girls were finished they were proud of what they had accomplished. Kaitlyn said she was glad she was able to improve the quality of life for the elderly and Megan said she wanted to give back to the elderly. Both girls accomplished their goals and certainly brightened the lives of the residents of the home.

Haley, Christiana and Sara from Troop 108 decided they wanted improve the life of those women and children who were staying at Jessie’s Place for their Bronze Award project. The girls met with the center and determined their needs. Haley decided that she would reorganize their library, which was very cluttered and it was hard to find anything. She organized the movies, and removed ones that were broken. She did the same for the books and put them into categories. Sara took on the task of creating a reading center. This gave the moms and children somewhere quite to read and reflect. She created a place in the nursery near the toys and rocking chairs which made it easy for a mom to watch one child read and another one play. Christina came up with activities that the girls could present during the summer when the children at Jessie’s Place were bored. They bought supplies included crayons, coloring books, educational books and crafts. These girls made a real impact on Jesse’s place while learning about patience and versatility.

The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Junior can earn. This award recognizes that a Girl Scout Junior has gained the leadership and planning skills required to follow through with a project that makes a positive difference in her community.