May 21, 2013

Cookie Sale News, May 10, 2013

GirlCauseShirt1Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

We had a great 2013 cookie sale, and are looking forward to 2014. In 2014 we will be increasing the price (after 5 years at the same price) and increasing troop earnings and girl incentives. 

We greatly appreciate our volunteer’s responses to our recent cookie survey and are in the process of reviewing your many comments to ensure that the cookie program is fun and rewarding for girls and volunteers.

Headlines for our 2014 Cookie Sale.

  • We are increasing the price to $5 a box. 
  • We are increasing average troop earnings and girl incentives from $.87/box to $1.02/box. We will provide detailed information during product sales training, as always, about what this means for individual troops and girls, depending on the number of boxes they sell and on whether they decide to earn recognitions and rewards or to earn dollars only. 
  • We are selling Little Brownie Baker cookies – the same 8 varieties as 2013.         
  • This chart shows “how the cookie crumbles” at $5 a box. 
cookie-chart-2

 More Details on the 2014 Sale and Price Increase.
  • The last cookie price increase was 5 years ago in 2009. 
  • The cookie sale is a great program and money earning activity for girls and troops, and a major source of funds for council services. 
  • Council services ($2.96 of each box sold) is short-hand for the services and infrastructure that support volunteers, troops, local program centers, and camps. Click here for more information about Council Services.
    • Girl Scouts of Northern California provides services and infrastructure that support high quality, safe Girl Scout experiences for almost 50,000 girls and 31,000 volunteers in 19 counties, including: community program centers; camp properties, volunteer resources and background screening, outreach, online training, and communications. 
    • Costs for insurance, rent, salaries, benefits, and the per box price the baker charges all have increased since our last price increase in 2009. The price increase is necessary to balance our budget and continue to serve girls and volunteers in all areas of our council. Our national organization, GSUSA, receives 100% of the $15 membership dues that girl and adult members pay each year. It is up to Girl Scouts of Northern California to raise the funds we need to support Girl Scouting in our council. 
    • We are charging $5/box, instead of charging girl members a $15 Council Service Fee in 2014. This will help us keep Girl Scouts affordable for all girls.
  • What is “cost of sale?” The cost of sale includes marketing and advertising costs to promote Girl Scout cookies; for example, during JuniorCauseShirts4the 2013 sale we purchased movie theater ads in some parts of the council and online search word ads to send consumers to iLoveCookies.org.
  • Why not a $.50 increase to $4.50/box? Our baker’s research shows ... customers buy cookies because they want to support Girl Scouts, they love the taste, and they want to interact with the girls selling. $5 will help girls and troops raise more funds for Girl Scout activities and will make a huge difference for our ability to reach more girls and volunteers. We hope the $1 increase means that we won’t have to increase the price again for 5 years, and we can postpone as long as possible charging a Council Service Fee for girl members.
  • Why is a bigger percentage of the price increase going to Council Services instead of to the troops and girls?  We try to only increase the price every 5 years, so the price increase needs to carry us through 5 years of rising costs – for example, as the cost the council pays the baker for cookies goes up each year, that increase will most likely erode the Council Services share. Ideally, in a well-managed council, with successful product sales, we “save up” some proceeds during the first 3 years of a price increase to help us cover rising costs during the end of the price increase. This year, for example, the 5th year at our current price, GSNorCal is operating at a planned budget deficit.
  • Little Brownie Baker will be our cookie baker for 2014.
    • We’ve signed a 1-year contract with Little Brownie Baker for 2014 (the same baker we had in 2013). 
    • We know that both Little Brownie Baker and ABC have fans within Girl Scouts of Northern California – and that for every Samoas fan there is a Caramel Delight fan.
    • ABC is piloting a gluten-free cookie in 2014, which SeniorCauseShirt1we know is of interest to our members and customers. We’ll be watching closely to see whether ABC decides to include the gluten-free cookie in its 2015 line up and also are watching ABC’s progress on some of the technology it is rolling out for the 2014 sale.
Save the Date for 2014 Cookies!
  • Troop starting order due in eBudde: Jan. 21
  • Delivery:  Feb. 6-8
  • Go Day! Public sale: Feb. 9–March 16
We greatly appreciate our girls, volunteers’, parents’, and communities’ support of Girl Scouts and look forward to our best sale yet in 2014. We know that “5 for $20” was a popular refrain when the price was $4/box. We also know we have lots of creative girls out there and are going to have fun with fives as we head into the 2014 sale!

Last but not least, Happy Mother’s Day to all of our amazing Girl Scout moms, grandmothers and great grandmothers! I’m looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day weekend with 5,700 Girl Scouts – mothers and daughters – on thefamily 5 Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow.
I hope to see some of you there!

 

 

 


Posted at 08:59 PM in Cookie Program, General Girl Scout News, Governance | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Cookies, Camps and Program News, April 25, 2013

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,13_VolAppWeek_FaceBookShareable-3 (2)
This is Volunteer Appreciation Week! Thank you to Northern California’s amazing volunteers for creating opportunities girls want and experiences that change lives! Girl Scouting is wonderful because of you.

This update includes: Cookies – Our Best Sale Ever!
March 17 was the final day of the 2013 cookie sale. Thank you to all the girls and volunteers who contributed to our best sale yet! We have a record number of girls attending 550 events around GSNorCal.

Here are some interesting facts about this year’s record sale:
 Key statistics  2013
 Girl participation:  
 Girls participating in the sale 31,147
 Average # boxes sold by girls selling 143
 Grand Total boxes sold 4,440,141
 Total boxes sold for Gift of Caring
 (included in grand total)		 103,831
 Number of girls selling 550 or more 871
 Number of girls selling over 1,000 boxes 238
 Number of girls selling over 1,200 boxes 115
 Number of girls selling over 1,500 boxes 92
 Number of girls selling over 2,000 boxes 25
 Number of girls selling over 3,000 boxes 12
 Highest number of boxes sold 4,218
 Cookies:  
 Best-selling cookie Thin Mints
 Least popular cookie Dulce De Leche
 Sales results by area:  
 East Bay/Solano +3.14%
 North Central +.45%
 North Coast -.54%
 Redwoods -1.84%
 South Bay Peninsula +4.94%
 Volunteers:  
 Number of cookie cupboards 106
 Number of troops participating 3,191
 Number of booth sales in e-budde 19,588
 Number of volunteer hours We have no idea – but we know it is a HUGE number!
 
Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the 2013 cookie sale. It is a great experience for girls and a huge amount of work for volunteers. The cookie sale generates 60% of Girl Scouts of Northern California’s annual revenue – essential support to keep our program center and camp doors open! Thank you so much to those of you who worked so hard to ensure its success for the girls, troops, and council operations!

Summer Camps are Filling Up!   SP Family Camp 2011 001
Camp registration is underway for Council Run camps and Volunteer Run camps. Many programs at our Council Run camps are already full, especially at Bothin and Skylark Ranch. But space is still available in a variety of exciting options for girls, including our beautiful High Sierra resident camps, Deer Lake and Sugar Pine. If you aren’t sure whether your daughter is ready for “sleep away” camp, consider family camp. Registrations are being accepted for the Deer Lake Family Adventure Camp over Labor Day Weekend and limited space is still available at the Sugar Pine Round-up and the 2nd session of our very popular mom and me program at Bothin. For questions about camps and programs, contact happycamper@girlscoutsnorcal.org

Camp Property News: 350+ Volunteers at Spring Work Parties! 
Thank you to all the girls and adults who are painting buildings, building trails, repairing benches and clearing debris at our spring work parties. Thank you for helping take care of our camp properties!

Work party participants by property: Bothin/Arequipa: 22 ♦ Butano: 50 ♦ Cordelia: 21 ♦ Deer Lake: 14 ♦ Hidden Falls: 87 ♦  Skylark Ranch: 7 ♦ The Cove: 46 ♦ Twin Canyon: 104

School-Year Program News. Marina at GGB 2011 (2)
  • 2013 Golden Gate Bridging Sold Out! 5,000 registered participants from 10 states are gathering May 11 for our annual celebration for girls bridging from Juniors to Cadettes. Troops will walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and end up at Crissy Field for a wonderful Girl Scout festival. This is one of my favorite annual events ... lots of walking at one of the most beautiful places on earth, with thousands of happy Girl Scouts! Here I am, in the white hat, at Golden Gate Bridging in 2011!
  • Camp Bothin Year-Round Program Offerings. Camp Bothin, in Marin County, is our most-used camp, with over 25,000 camper days each year, and it is our most expensive camp to operate. It has indoor sleeping facilities – so programs can happen rain or shine. This past fall, Erin Hayes (known to campers as Sky) joined us as a full-time Outdoor Program Manager at Camp Bothin. Erin’s charge is to build exciting programs to encourage rentals by both Girl Scout groups and other non-profits interested in weekday rentals. You can click here to see the available programs (including ropes course, organic garden, archery, and crafts) and contact information for Erin if you would like a unique weekend for your service unit or troop.
  • career day QRGirls Go Tech: 1,000 girls at When I Grow Up Career Day. On April 13, volunteers from local companies, universities, and non-profits introduced 1,000 girls to careers in everything from aviation to robotics. The Daisy in this picture learned how to make her own QR code – when scanned, it reads: "Hi mom, I love you so much."

    When I Grow Up is lots of fun. It also is serious business. We’re taking action to change these facts: Girls report less interest and confidence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, particularly after middle school. And women constitute just 16 percent of engineers and architects and only 24 percent of mathematical or computer occupations. 

    Based on research about girls and STEM, GSNorCal’s Girls Go Tech programs increase girls’ interest and confidence in STEM by:
  • Breaking stereotypes;
  • Providing opportunities to experience STEM in hands on fun activities;
  • Connecting girls with role models so girls can hear not only about their careers but also learn about their lives as “real people”; and
  • Helping girls understand how a career in STEM can help them make the world a better place.
  • smoresSongs and S’mores at A Girl’s Place in Fairfield. Volunteers and staff teamed up to celebrate the grand re-opening of A Girl’s Place program center in Fairfield, with songs, s’mores, and skits, centered around the brand new fire pit! Donors who supported the outdoor landscaping enjoyed seeing their names on engraved stones set in the dry creek bed that “flows” beneath the small bridge used for local bridging ceremonies. Assemblyman Dan Frazier and a representative from Senator Lois Wolk’s office also joined the celebration.
Looking Ahead to 2013-2014 Programs and Events.
  • Early Fall Preview. Yay! For all you planners out there, look for our nePeg the penguinw Early Fall Preview on May 15, 2013 (email, Facebook and Twitter). The Early Fall Preview will include ALL September and October events and live registration!
  • 2013-14 Program and Events Guide (PEG). We’re replacing “Choices” with a new Program and Events Guide. Our Program team worked with a group of volunteers to design an easier-to-use guide, starting with the name (“just call it what it is”). The new PEG will make it easier for volunteers to find programs by age levels and geography and connect the dots between badges and Journeys. The 2013-14 PEG will be available online and mailed by Aug. 26.
  • Journey Events. Journey events have really taken off around GSNorCal, and most of this year’s Bothin Journey weekends have sold out. Our staff is planning council events and is working with Service Unit teams to plan more Journey programs all around GSNorCal next year. There will be five council-run Journey weekends during 2013-14: Bliss (Ambassadors); Sow What (Seniors); Breathe and Amaze (Cadettes); and Get Moving (Juniors).
Membership Renewal: Renew by June 28, 2013, Get 2014 Patch!

It’s time to renew. Here are three good reasons to do it now! early bird patch 13 2

  1. So your troop is ready to hit the ground running in the fall and you have one less thing to think about during the busy back-to-school time;

  2. So you can receive this cute patch (if you renew by June 28, 2013); and

  3. So you can look forward to another fun year of Girl Scouts! 

You will notice that dues are increasing from $12 to $15 for the 2014 membership year. 100% of membership dues go to our national organization – Girl Scouts of the USA. None of the dues stay with your local council – Girl Scouts of Northern California. That is why, when you register and pay your dues, we really appreciate any donation you can make to help support Girl Scouts of Northern California.

Annual Meeting, April 27.
The Council’s voting members will meet at Camp Bothin this Saturday to hear reports on the State of the Council, discuss the Council’s direction and strategy, and elect new members to the Board and Board Development Committee. Each Region of the Girl Scouts of Northern California is represented by elected Regional Delegates, who will attend and vote at the meeting. You can click this link to see who your Regional Delegates are.
 
This year’s Annual Meeting topics include:
  • 100th Anniversary Celebrations
  • Financial Health, including 2012 results and property2013-annualreport-cover
  • Mission Delivery, including membership growth and impact
  • Volunteerism
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Member Governance
  • Alumnae and 100th Anniversary Campaign
  • GSUSA Program and Governance Updates
2012 Annual Report.
We will hand out copies of the Annual Report at the Annual meeting. It is also available online here. I think it looks great, and it’s fun to see the summary of all the wonderful things that we accomplished during our 100th Anniversary Year!

Oakland Office Move Update.
Our move to our new office (1650 Harbor Bay, Alameda) has been delayed a bit while our new landlord completes all the necessary permitting requirements. We are now aiming for a June move date.  

Thank you, again, to all our volunteers! I’ve enjoyed reading all your Facebook posts this week! On Monday, for a chance to win our new Program and Events Guide mascot, PEG the Penguin, volunteers shared “the most meaningful experience you've had as a troop leader.” Your words are so inspiring – here’s just one of the many experiences volunteers shared this week:

"I think the most meaningful experience I have as a troop leader is knowing that I'm important in the lives of young girls just as they are important to me. I learn from them as they learn from me as well as our co leaders and parents. We allsmiles 6 learn something new each time we meet. One of our girls asked me how long they would be a troop together and I replied, 'if you want to be a Girl Scout, I will always your troop leader!' Happy GS leader day everyone!!"
Yours in Girl Scouting,

mpark_sig

Marina H. Park, CEO
Girl Scouts of Northern California

Posted at 08:58 PM in Camp Programs and Properties, General Girl Scout News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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February 08, 2013

Cookies, Delegates and Amazing Girls!

Feb. 8, 2013

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,
This update reports on 5 topics:
The Cookie Sale “Go Date” is Sunday, Feb. 10! 
Today is our first ever National Girl Scout Cookie day! This is the first time, we’ve all
worked together, on one day, to focus the nation’s attention on Girl SGot Milk councilmember schaaf girlscout cookies – how the program helps girls build skills and raises funds to support Girl Scouts in building the next generation of leaders. 90 Girl Scout councils are participating in National Girl
Scout Cookie Day!

To add to the fun, GOT MILK? launched a new California
campaign today, featuring Girl Scouts and cookies on billboards throughout California! Northern California Daisy Girl Scout, Madison Glock of Castro Valley, is one of three California Girl Scouts selected for the billboard
campaign (below, left). GOT MILK? unveiled the Oakland GOT MILK? Girl Scout cookie billboard at a ceremony this morning with Lifetime Girl Scout Oakland Councilmember Libby Schaaf, right. Check out this amazing video on our Girl Scouts Speak Out YouTube Channel after today's ceremony crediting Girl Scouts with helping her become the leader she is today!

final Got Milk billboard

When you see girls selling, ask them how they plan to spend the money they raise and how their troop decided on that plan, and you will see firs534835_10152530898610393_962685797_nt-hand the 5 skills the cookie sale builds:  
  • Goal Setting
  • Decision Making
  • Money Management
  • People Skills
  • Business Ethics
Be sure also to check out our new cookie boxes, highlighting the Gold Award – the highest honor in Girl Scouts. 274 girls earned their Gold Awards in Girl Scouts of Northern California during 2012, a 55% increase over 2011! We sell about 4.5 million boxes of cookies in
Northern California each year, so this is an exciting opportunity to tell our story and make sure the public knows what the Gold Award means.

Searching for Thin Mints?
To find cookies for sale near you, search our Online Cookie Locator at ilovecookies.org,
or call **GSCOOKIES from your smartphone for our free Cookie Locator Mobile App!

Where Does All the Cookie Money Go? 
$3.02 of each box sold provides direct support to Girl Scouts:  $0.87 for troop earnings and recognitions and $2.15 for council services.

cookie_crumbles_2013

What are Council Services? They are All the Things We Do to Keep Girl Scouts Going. cookie_infographic_2013

Council services include:
  • Program center and camp
    maintenance and repairs
  • Volunteer screening and
    development, including online training
  • Managing Bronze, Silver, and Gold
    Awards programs
  • Year round programs, including
    Choices programs and summer camp
  • Property and liability insurance
    for our camps, program centers and activities
  • Web site and Monday Mailing
  • All of the back-office operations
    required for a non-profit organization our size, including HR, Finance, IT, and Registration
  • And, of course, the staff team
    that works with our volunteers, bakers, and bank to organize the cookie sale and fall nut sale
The cookie sale accounts for 60% of our annual budget. We would not be able to keep our council in business and our camps and program centers open without it! Thank you to the thousands of parents and volunteers who make the cookie sale happen and to the 30,000+ girls who have signed up to participate in this year’s Northern California sale.  Please know that what you do is helping all of us build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.

And don’t forget – even if you don’t eat cookies, you can purchase boxes through the Gift of Caring to send to troops overseas and local food banks.
For more information about the size and impact of the GSNorCal Cookie Sale, check out this great one-page summary of Cookie Stats!
discoveree cake pops
Discoveree 2013 is a Wrap! 
Last weekend, over 600 troop leaders and other volunteers participated in 124 workshops lead by 80 talented workshop leaders. Thank you to the team of volunteers and staff who created a wonderful day of fun and inspired learning! Where else but Girl Scouts can you learn from experts in one day how to help girls explore outdoor cooking, orienteering, Journeys and Lego robotics, build native bee nest boxes, make cake pops, and learn about Robert’s Rules of Order and parliamentary procedure?

Regional Delegate Elections.
Congratulations to Girl Scouts of Northern California’s 2013 Regional Delegates! I look forward to seeing you April 27 at the Annual Meeting at Camp Bothin! Our council is organized into 14 regions. Each region is entitled to elect 8 delegates: 6 delegates for staggered 2 year terms (they may be adults or girls over age 14) and 2 girl delegates for 1 year terms. Delegates
elect the Board Development Committee and Board Members and also provide input to the Board on matters of strategic importance to the council. Of the 14 regions, 9 regions filled 100% of the 2 year positions and 4 regions filled 100% of the 1 year positions for girls. So, we’re doing pretty well with adult delegates and would love to see more girl delegates! Your voices are important.
This will be one of many topics we’ll be discussing at the April 27 Annual Meeting. Stay tuned for more.

Camp Registration is Now Open!  Roxy Got Milk
Summer will be here before we know it. Our camp staff and volunteers are ready – with resident and day
camps!  Check out CampRocks.org to find the right program for your Girl Scout, and don’t forget mom and me camps at Bothin (in Marin County), and family camps at Sugar Pine and Deer Lake in the Sierras. These have all been popular additions to our camp offerings. We’ve also had fun introducing our new camp mascot, Roxy Racoon. Roxy plans to visit all the camps this summer. Meanwhile, she’s making the rounds of the council and was on hand at the GOT MILK? billboard unveiling this morning!

National Young Woman of Distinction at GSNorCal Board Meeting. 

P1090624While Discoveree was underway last Saturday, our Board was
meeting at the Oakland office. The highlight was hearing from Sri about the Gold Award Project that earned Sri recognition as one of just 10 National Young Women
of Distinction for 2013. Sri shared photos and videos of her journey. She learned about and shared African culture with her community – organizing an event that 500 people attended and that raised funds to support the next phase
of her project. Sri brought supplies to a remote village in Tansania and helped the village build water storage facilities and goat pens. It is wonderful to see the Girl Scout Leadership Experience in action. Every step of the way Sri
discovered, connected and took action to make the world a better place. I will be on Capitol Hill on Feb. 28 with Sri for the unveiling of the new Girl Scout Centennial Coin! That will be great fun, and we can all be proud to have Sri representing Girl Scouts of Northern California! Here is a picture of Sri after her presentation with our Girl Board Representatives Bairavi and Zahra and Girl Board Advisor Varsha. 

Six Girl Scouts are Headed to the United Nations! 
Congratulations to the six Ambassador Girl Scouts who will represent Girl Scouts NorCal at the Commission on the Status of Women, hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social
Council, March 4. Over 5,000 women and girls from around the world are expected to attend the Commission. The priority theme for this year’s session is the “elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.”

Girl Scouts of the USA invited all Girl Scout councils to apply to send 4 girls. We are honored that GSUSA selected Girl Scouts of Northern California, based on our long history of working to eradicate violence against women and girls through program opportunities uncswand projects. We invited girls to apply for the 4 slots and received
applications from throughout Northern California. We selected girls based on a combination of experience, knowledge, and passion for ending all forms of violence against women and girls. In addition, GSUSA invited our council to expand our delegation to include two Girl Scouts from our Got Choices program! These two girls, together with Whitney Evans, our Got Choices program director, are presenting a session entitled, “Girls Ending the Cycle: Combating Inter-Generational Violence Through Leadership and Empowerment.” They will discuss Girl Scouts and Got Choices and how Girl Scouts is helping girls end the cycle of intergenerational violence. Talk about courage, confidence, and character – I am so proud of these girls for speaking out and of our council (and the many donors who support us) for having such an amazing Got Choices staff team and program! Got Choices empowers over 650 girls each year at 18 sites in five counties, including detention centers, shelters and community high
schools.

All six girls have LOTS of homework to get ready for the Commission meetings and each will have an important role. They are in the process right now of deciding their area of focus: speaking, advocacy, writing, or discussion leader. Marla Howard, the program director who oversees older girl programs, will be accompanying the girls (together with Whitney). I look forward to hearing all about the girls’ experiences and sharing them with you!

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

 

Yours in Girl Scouting

Posted at 06:04 PM in Camp Programs and Properties, General Girl Scout News, Governance | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Gold Awards, Girl Scout Coin, Oakland Office Move, and More!

Jan. 17, 2013

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,
Happy New Year!

We are starting the 101st year of Girl Scouts with some very exciting news
just announced by GSUSA!
national-ywod.jpg?w=540
2013 National Young Woman of Distinction from GSNorCal!  GSUSA just announced ... Sricharana (Sri), from Troop 30986 of Pleasanton, CA, is one of just ten Gold Award Girl Scouts selected as a 2013 National Young Woman of Distinction by an external selection committee with representatives from leading nonprofit organizations, Girl Scout partners, and funders.

Sri’s project had two main parts. She first educated her community on African culture through an event that hosted a crowd of 500 participants and brought in African dance groups, choirs,
churches, and organizations to perform and inform (Sri is shown in this photo speaking with State Rep. Jerry McNerney at her "Taste of Af6326813270_8524c583ab_brica" event). Her show was a huge success and the money she earned as well as additional money earning projects, funded the second part of her project – to build a water retention system in
Bukoba, Tanzania. With the help of her father, she purchased all the supplies needed and
travelled daily to the village of Kangabusharo to work with villagers to build the water retention
systems. The system allows villagers to efficiently collect the water flowing from their roofs into their gutters, which would eventually flow into the holding tank. The tank would provide water for the women’s cooperative and their families
as well as the goats in the adjacent goat pen. The villagers would use these goats to sell milk to make extra money for their children’s education, which was a primary goal for many of the women they were working with.

Please join me in congratulating Sri! You can read here about each of this year’s 10 National Young Women of Distinction.

Other News: 37 Gold Award Girl Scouts Honored at Jan. 6 Luncheon. 

It was my privilege to attend the annual Gold Award luncheon organized earlier this month by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of our Alumnae Group. 37 girls and their family members attended the event. Each girl shared a brief summary of her project and received a certificate from the office of Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Ellen M. Corbett. Hearing 37 young women describe their Gold Award projects and the positive impact on their communities and the lessons they learned along the way, was the perfect way to start the New Year!

Our Oakland Office is Moving to Harbor Bay, Alameda, this May!
I am pleased to announce that Girl Scouts of Northern California’s Board of Directors has approved a 10-year lease at 1650 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda, replacing the existing Oakland office at 7700 Edgewater Drive when our current lease expires in May 2013.

harbor-bayThe bottom line: We need to move, and it is a good time to sign a new lease! For less money than we paid for Oakland office rent in 2012, we will be moving to a much newer building that best meets the priorities identified by GSNorCal members and staff. Our new Alameda office will be in a well-maintained building with an efficient ground floor suite for our work, collaboration, and retail shop.

Our Alameda office will belocated near the Oakland Airport, accessed via 98th Avenue, one exit south of Hegenberger (our current exit). This will add a few minutes to the drive time for visitors travelling from areas north of our current office and will be about the same drive time for visitors travelling from areas south and south east of our current office.

We are all very excited about the changes and opportunities ahead and appreciate the input our members have provided to guide our Board and Property Task Group in making this decision. Stay tuned for more information, pictures and a Save the Date for our Open House Celebration as the move date gets closer!

Click here to learn more about our new building, scheduled to open for business
May 6, 2013, and the priorities and process that guided this decision by our Board of Directors.

527624912563830965_S9A8tcrV_cThe 2013 Cookie Sale is Around the Corner!

Cookie Go Day is Feb. 10 and the sale continues through March 17. Our booth locations and dates will be loaded into our Online Cookie Locator at iLoveCookies.org so you can find yours - or click
here to download our free Cookie Locator Mobile App! Remember, you can find great resources and marketing tools to maximize your sale online in our Troop Resources section of the GSNorCal website.

New for this year’s sale:
  • New cookie boxes that explain the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and highlight Girl Scouts’ highest honor, the Gold Award. Get a sneak peek of the cookie box makeover here
    on our GSNorCal Pinterest board    !
  • A new Got Milk campaign in partnership with Girl Scout Cookies that will be promoted throughout California. Creative Girl Scouts in Northern California submitted wonderful entries to the competition to be selected for this
    campaign. Congratulations to our 3 Girl Scouts from Northern California who were chosen as finalists! Madison Glock, 6, Castro Valley; Dinah Marr, 11,
    Brentwood; Angel Langworthy, 14, Castro Valley! These girls will each receive a $350 camp scholarship and are in the running to be selected from 24 finalists as Grand Prize winners! Got Milk? will annnational_gs_cookiedayounce the 3 Grand Prize winner on National Girl Scout Cookie Day, Feb. 8 and the Grand Prize winners will be featured on a billboard in their region just in time for Cookie season! Thanks to everyone who entered - we'll show off all the great entry photos from our Northern California girls in February!
  • National Girl Scout Cookie Day, Feb. 8 - Watch news outlets and social media for the exciting ways we will be working to raise awareness of the Girl Scout Cookie
    Program and support girls! If you are interested in helping promote the Girl Scout Cookie program in your area, click
    here     to learn more about our volunteer press representatives, the Girl Scout Grapevine!
Girl Scout 100th Anniversary Coin Goes on Sale Feb. 28! 

In recognition of Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary, the United States Mint is issuiGirl-Scouts_O_Line-Art_200ng a 2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar. The commemorative coin will go on sale Feb. 28, and the price will be determined by the United
States Mint closer to the on-sale date. A portion of the proceeds from each coin sold will benefit GSUSA.

For more information, the United States Mint has a program Web page dedicated to the 2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar. You may also send questions to GSUSACoin@girlscouts.org

Help Set Girl Scouts of Northern California’s Strategic Direction.  Delegate Elections Now Open! Vote Online!
Regional Delegates are the voice of members in council governance. They participate in and vote at the Annual Meeting (this year’s is April 27) and engage local members in vote-nowstrategic conversations. All registered adults and girls 14 years old and older are eligible to vote for Delegates. The election is open through Jan. 25 at midnight. Please cast your vote during this period; click on this link to get to the ballots. To initiate the voting process, the ballot will include a voting agreement and zip code entry requirement. Click here for more information. Results will be posted by Feb. 5.

Holiday Cards Brighten a Remote Outpost in Afghanistan.
I have loved hearing about all the holiday service projects. We received this wonderful email last week from a service member in Afghanistan, thanking Girl Scouts of Northern California
troops for holiday cards that ended up as a small outpost “in the middle of
nowhere.”
Subject:
Hello and thanks from Afghanistan!

20121212__local07_GALLERYMy name is Jerry and I am
deployed in Afghanistan. My men and I are at a small outpost more or less in the
middle of nowhere and we just received a HUGE batch
of holiday cards. We went through every single one. There must have been 150. We
wanted to thank all the leaders and young ladies who took the time to write us.
My wife was a GS leader for my daughter's brownie and junior group and I know
what a great program GS is. If possible, could you reach out to the following
groups and pass on our thanks for their concern and holiday
wishes.

10026, 10408, 30125, 30248, 30407, 30454, 30579, 30742, 30801,
31007, 31401, 31538, 31551, 31706, 32015, 32108, 32426, 33067, 60041, 60370,
61186, 61255, 61336, 61375, 61792, 61807, 61897, 61974, 62090

Thank you
again. Sincerely, LT Jerry Weers, SEAL Team FOUR

On behalf of all of us to all of you who made the world a better place this past holiday season, thank
you!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

 

Yours in Girl Scouting,

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Peace, Love and Hope

It is February 8, 2013 today, and I am catching up on posting some Member Updates that went out via email during the past 2 months. .. 

Dec. 20, 2012

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

Season’s greetings of peace, love and hope carry special meaning this December.

We hold in our hearts hopes and prayers for healing and peace for the Newtown community and the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School. It is heartbreaking to read about the beautiful
children and brave and dedicated faculty whose lives ended much too soon. Eight
of the girls were Daisy Girl Scouts and two of the boys were members of Girl
Scout families. Girl Scouts of Connecticut is organizing a January memorial to
support our Girl Scout family, and Girl Scouts across the nation are encouraged
to write down thoughts or prayers or art in the shape of the Girl Scout trefoil.
You can print out Vigil-Candlethe Trefoil pattern from the link below. If you or your troop would like to participate, please send these trefoils to the Hartford
Service Center, c/o Trefoil Project, 340 Washington St., Hartford, CT
06106.

Our children are precious, and I thank each of you for your gifts of time and support for girls. With over 4,100 Girl Scout troops, 49,000 girl members, 274 Gold Award Girl Scouts, 8,000 girls attending 27 volunteer-run camps, and a One Hundred, Fun Hundred event for 24,000 participants, we estimate that during 2012, Girl Scouts of Northern California volunteers contributed over 2.5 million hours to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who
make the world a better place. And, along the way, 49,000 girls made friends,
tried new things, had fun, smiled, and laughed.

I feel very fortunate to be part of this great organization and a sister to every Girl Scout. Thank
you for all that you do, for being there for our girls and for being an important part of the glue that builds strong communities. This holiday season, against a backdrop of shared sorrow, I am reminded of the power and importance of community, love, and grace.  

Wishing you and your loved ones peace, joy, hope, strength, and love during this holiday season and in the New Year.

Yours in Girl Scouting

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November 21, 2012

Member Update, November 21: A time for gratitude and giving

Nov. 21, 2012

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

Happy Thanksgiving to you, your friends, and families. Thank you for all that you do to help girls grow strong and make the world a better place.
Holiday Kindness. 
During the holiday season girls and volunteers across our council are taking action to help others. Here are just a few examples:
  • news1One Warm Coat. On “Black Friday” after Thanksgiving, troops are collecting coats at shopping centers in San Jose, San Francisco, Emeryville, and Walnut Creek. Last year GSNorCal collected over 7,000 coats! Watch KTVU Channel 2 Oakland for Girl Scouts on the air throughout the day at dropoff locations.
  • North Coast Holiday Bags. Make the holidays brighter for less advantaged children throughout Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties. This is the 17th year Girl Scouts has coordinated this project, where troops create gift bags filled with toys, necessities, and treats for children of all ages.arf-daisies-dog
  • ARF: Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation Holiday Pet Food Drive. From Nov. 23 to Dec. 30, join Girl Scouts in collecting food for pets whose guardians are going through tough economic times. Wet or dry cat and dog food is needed, as long as it is unexpired and unopened.
  • Operation Holiday Cards. Milpitas Girl Scouts have coordinated their council-wide service project, "Operation Holiday Cards," where they send cards made by Girl Scouts to service members stationed across the world. Last year, over 4,000 cards, goody bags, and fall sale products were shipped from Girl Scouts.
  • To Kids From Kids Girl Scout Holiday Project. Since 1985, To Kids From Kids has reached out to children, newborn to 18 years old, who have been physically and/or emotionally abused or neglected. With the efforts of many Girl Scouts of all levels, these children are ensured a gift during the winter holidays. TKFK will be Dec. 1 in Alameda County and Dec. 8 in San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
Community Kindness. 
Girl Scouts do a lot for our communities, and it’s heartwarming to read about a community that recently stepped up big time to help a Girl Scout in need. 11-year-old Teira Manfredda is a Girl Scout from Eureka with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, which mimics autism and left her without the ability to speak. Last year, Teira learned that one of the big incentives for selling cookies was an iPad, and she set her goal for 3,000 boxes. An iPad was so important for Teira because you could download an application called Scene&Heard which would allow Teira to communicate. Upon hearing Teira’s goal, members of the community rallied around her, and she earn20121117__local_iPad_theft_GALLERYed her iPad! Teira was able to increase her vocabulary to 350 words – and for the first time, she was able to order for herself in a restaurant.
 
Two weeks ago, Teira’s story took a sad turn: while Teira’s troop was selling Fall Sale products, the backpack containing her iPad was stolen from the family’s van – taking Teira’s voice with it.  Fortunately, Eureka was ready to help Teira, again. After a story ran in last Friday’s Eureka-Times Standard, the community responded quickly, and rushed to buy Fall Sale products from Teira’s troop and contribute to Teira’s parents directly. By Saturday evening, Teira had enough to get a new iPad! Click here to read all about this story that really epitomizes the spirit of Girl Scouting.
 
2012 Annual Appeal: Building the Next Generation of Leaders.
Each November and December generous families and donors include Girl Scouts of Northern California in their year-end charitable giving.  Our Annual Appeal provides critical support for camps and operations. Thank you for your support; every gift is important. 
 
This year’s annual giving theme is building the next generation of leaders. Look for our emails during the next several weeks and the inspiring stories of girls and women who credit Girl Scouts with helping them become the leaders they are todayzone-1_YEA. Almost 80% of women business owners and 60% of women in Congress are former Girl Scouts. Mother Jones recently reported that when the new Congress is sworn in next January, it will include a record number of women senators, and of the twenty women in the Senate, 70 percent of them were Girl Scouts. Girl Scout alumnae also include every female Secretary of State (Madeline Albright, Condoleeza Rice, and Hillary Clinton) and every female astronaut who has flown in space!  
 
Who will tomorrow’s leaders be? I think Silver and Gold Award Girl Scouts are a good place to start the search for tomorrow’s leaders. During 2012, 1,221 compassionate, hard-working girls earned Gold and Silver Awards in Northern California: 274 Gold Awards (a 55% increase) and 947 Silver Awards (a 60% increase). Congratulations to all of our Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award recipients, and thank you to the parents, volunteers, donors and staff teams who supported them! 
 
Young Women of Distinction Nominees.
Each year, GSUSA invites Girl Scouts of Northern California to nominate three outstanding Gold Award Girl Scouts as National Young Women of Distinction. A volunteer committee reviewed the Gold Award projects completed between January 1, 2011 and August 1, 2012, and submitted for consideration and selected our council’s nominees. 

Congratulations to Sarah, Sri, and Nicole: girlscouts7
  • Sarah Williams: Sarah founded Creative Kindness which she is currently working toward making into a non-profit organization to continue her work. She has distributed over 20,000 fleece blankets and stuffed animals and over 2,000 pairs of shoes to foster care youth in 6 states. Her Legacy Blanket Kits have helped to make this possible as Girl Scouts and other youth across the country and overseas in Guam make blankets and send them back to her along with a re-filled kit to send to the next blanket maker. 
  • Sricharana (Sri) Muppidi: Sri’s project, titled “Magic of Maji,” had two main parts.  She first educated her community on African culture through an event that hosted a crowd of 500 participants and brought in African dance groups, choirs, churches, and organizations to perform and inform. Her show was a huge success and the money she earned, as well as additional money earning projects, funded the second part of her project – to build a water retention system in Bukoba, Tanzania. With the help of her father, she purchased all the supplies needed and travelled daily to the village of Kangabusharo to work with villagers to build the water retention systems. The system allows villagers to efficiently collect the water flowing from their roofs into their gutters, which would eventually flow into the holding tank.  The tank would provide water for the women’s cooperative and their families as well as the goats in the adjacent goat pen. The villagers would use these goats to sell milk to make extra money for their children’s education, which was a primary goal for many of the women they were working with. 
  • Nicole Hehenstein: Nicole was concerned about the depletion of the native bee population by 40% in a three-year time span in Northern California and decided to build a bee garden in her community in an effort to rebuild the bee population. She utilized Pleasant Hill’s Community Service Day to gain public support and labor to install a garden at Roger’s Ranch, a California Historic Heritage Center. When that was complete, she moved on to the local Century 16 movie theater to start a recycling program. The local recycling program had been trying to get the theater to recycle for years and was not successful. Nicole not only set up a recycling system with a dumpster for all recyclable items, but also started a popcorn recycling system where leftover popcorn is picked up every two weeks and taken to a local pig farm to feed the pigs. Her efforts have made a positive and lasting impact on the environment in Pleasant Hill.
Certainly, meeting our Gold Award Girl Scouts and reading about their projects makes me thankful to be part of Girl Scouts and to have the opportunity to serve our girls, volunteers, and staff.
 
Other Girl Scout News.
  • Delegate Nomination (Girls and Adults). Nominations for regional delegates close on Nov. 30. Make sure your Region is represented; click here to learn howmilk to nominate yourself. 
  • Got Milk Billboard Photo Contest. California Girl Scout councils have teamed up with the California Milk Processor Board to search for a few Girl Scouts to be a part of a new print campaign where 3 Girl Scouts will be featured on a billboard and 8 others will receive camp scholarships. To enter, California Girl Scouts in grades K–12 should submit a photo by 5 p.m. Dec. 17 that shows one Girl Scout and milk along with a caption that illustrates the prompt: How have Girl Scouts and milk helped me become strong, healthy, and confident? Click here for rules and the waiver.
  • Winterfest. Winterfest, the last big event celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts, is a magical winter wonderland of crafts, games, and holiday shopping created by Teens Take Over and troops. Winterfest 2012 is Dec. 1 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Plus, Kazaana, an interactive and immersive digital platform for kids and tweens, will unveil their new Girl Scout fan page at Winterfest, and Radio Disney AM 1310 will be onhand with prizes! Winterfest also includes a food drive for Second Harvest.
Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

 

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October 19, 2012

Member Update, October 19, 2012: Forever Green Grand Finale, Saving our Camps and Delegate Nominations

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

This update covers three topics: Santa Rosa Forever Green. 

November 8 is our Grand Finale Forever Green event, at Paradise Ridge in Santa Rosa! To celebrate Girl Scouts’ 100th Anniversary, Girl Scouts of Northern California is honoring 100 amazing women with the Forever Green Award, recognizing their contributions to a positive future for California. I’ve loved meeting our honorees at the six events we’ve held to date, in San Francisco, Alamo, Rutherford, Chico, Eureka, and Menlo Park.

honoreesAt the Menlo Park event held earlier this month, the 15 award recipients included an opera singer, the chair of the Board of Intel, and soccer star Brandi Chastain. Each woman shared the “best advice” she’s ever received. Brandi shared words of wisdom from her grandfather. He was her biggest cheerleader and came to all her soccer games. He gave her $1 for every goal she scored. And, he gave her $1.50 for each assist. His advice, and the lesson he taught Brandi: It is better to give than to receive.

Santa Rosa Forever Green honorees include: 
  • Merry Edwards, owner/winemaker, Merry Edwards Winery
  • Liz Ellis, owner & principal, Green Valley Consulting Engineers
  • Peggy Furth, managing partner, SonomaCeuticals
  • Joyce Hinrichs, judge, Humboldt County Superior Court
  • Sydnie Kohara, broadcast journalist

register-nowI hope to see you there as we wind down this remarkable
100th Anniversary year! For tickets and sponsorship information, click here.

Saving our Camps! 

I am pleased to report that we made good progress during year one of our Property Plan. Last fall, the Board Property Task Group shared a draft plan to help us save our camp properties. After receiving member input at town hall meetings and via email and letters, the Board adopted a Property Plan at its November 2011 meeting.  

Girl Scouts of Northern California spends about $2.1 million each year to operate and maintain 29 Girl Scouts of Northern California properties which include 6 offices, 2 service centers, 8 program centers, and 13 camp properties and outdoor program centers. The Plan is designed to improve our properties and reduce the annual loss on our camp properties by $500,000 through a combination of revenue growth, cost
reductions and donations of time, materials and dollars.

One of the 1,420 redwood trees protected under our conservation easements!We took actions during 2012 that will reduce our annual losses on camp properties by about $280,000 on a recurring basis, including
conservation easements on two Santa Cruz Mountain camps, increased rentals and work parties. We have plans in place to reduce losses by another $100,000 in
2013. You may click on this link or read below for a more detailed one year Progress Report about our camp properties. This picture shows one of hte 1,420 old growth redwoods protected under our Conservation Easements!

Many members are contributing to these positive results – renting our camps, promoting our camps, attending camp, helping at work parties, and donating dollars and materials.  Thank you for your support! It is making a difference!

You also can visit these pages to learn how you can enjoy and help support Girl Scouts of Northern California’s camps:

Regional Delegate Nominations Open through Nov. 30, 2012. 
Are you an adult or girl 14 years and older, interested in representing your region in
discussions about GSNorCal’s property plan and other strategic and governance
decisions? If yes, then you should considering becoming a Regional Delegate. 
Nominations for the Regional Delegates positions opened Oct. 1 and will be open
until Nov. 30, 2012. Elections will be held in January. You can learn more about
becoming a Regional Delegate, your Region, and the nomination process, by clicking
here.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  

Marina

 October 2012, Camp Property Plan Progress Report

Last fall the Board Property Task Group developed, with your input at town hall meetings and via email and letters, a draft plan to help us save our camp properties. The Board adopted the plan at its November 2011 meeting. This one year update reports on our progress and the work ahead.  In summary, we are making progress. Summer 2012 was a record year for attendance at both council-run and volunteer-run camps, and we were able to reduce annual losses on camp property operations by about $280,000. During 2013 and beyond, we are taking action to achieve a further $220,000 in annual savings.

Our Challenge. 
Girl Scouts of Northern California spends about $2.1 million each year
to operate and maintain 29 Girl Scouts of Northern California properties which
include 6 offices, 2 service centers, 8 program centers and 13 camp properties
and outdoor program centers.  This is more than we can afford.  To maintain a
balanced budget, we need to reduce this annual loss by $500,000 on a recurring
basis, through a combination of revenue growth, cost reductions and donations of
time, materials and dollars.

Our Property Plan. 
The Board Property Task Group, formed in April 2008, learned about the
properties through property tours, member surveys, girl focus groups, Annual
Meeting discussions, evaluations of financial and user data, a camp architect’s
report on our resident camps, town hall meetings and a hard look at our
council’s financial realities and forecasts.  We also took action on Member
recommendations, including hiring a Director of Property Development during
2011, to improve marketing and information about our sites, and increase use and
rentals of Girl Scout camp properties by Girl Scout members and other
non-profits.  This gave us an opportunity to “test the market” to see what
opportunities there are to increase use and rentals of our properties and to
better understand what improvements might be needed to help us increase
rentals.  Based on this work, the Task Group recommended that GSNorCal use a
phased approach to improve the economics of our camps and outdoor program
centers, with no planned property sales.  Our focus is on saving -- not
selling.  We hope that by reducing losses on camp property operations, we will
be able to save all of our camps and outdoor program centers.  The first phase
focuses on improving the economics of six Tier 1 and Tier 2 camps.

Tier 1 Camp Properties (Bothin, Butano and Skylark Ranch):  These
are the most used and most expensive camps to operate and also are the
properties from which we are most likely to be able to generate significant
additional revenue.

Tier 2 Camp Properties (Sugar Pine, Twin Canyon and Two Sentinels):  These are the camp properties where we are most likely to be able to achieve break-even
operations.

2012 Progress Report

We made good progress during year one of the Property Plan and are on track to build on that progress during FY2013.  The five activities summarized below, reduced our annual losses by about $280,000 on a recurring basis, and there is still room to do better, especially in rentals, donations and work parties.

Property Reserve Portfolio:  $114,000.  In March 2012, we announced transactions called “conservation easements” on Butano Creek and Skylark Ranch. Sempervirens Fund, a conservation organization, paid Girl Scouts of Northern California $2.86
million, and, in exchange, we are not allowed to cut down trees or develop the
properties outside a defined “camp activity area.” Our Board and Investment
Committee established a Property Reserve Portfolio with a goal of growing the
portfolio over time and generating needed funds to maintain our Tier 1 camp
properties. Assuming 4% growth – the fund will generate about $114,000 each
year. On average, we should be spending or reserving about $114,000 each year to
pay for required capital repairs on Butano Creek and Skylark Ranch. So the
Property Reserve Portfolio helps us maintain and sustain these beloved
camps!

Rental Fees: $110,000. We rent Girl Scouts of Northern California Properties to our members and to other non-profits. We raised fees in 2012 and saw results from the
Director of Property Development position we created in 2011 to increase
promotion and rentals to Girl Scouts and other nonprofits. Through August 2012,
we generated almost $110,000 more in rent than we did during 2011.

Donations: $38,000.  During 2012 we received the largest donation in the history
of our council -- $1 million from the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation to improve
Camp Butano Creek. The Butano improvements will help us increase rentals and
also reduce repair costs. We also received $38,482.31 in donations designated to
our Tents and Trails Campaign, found online here. Many Tents and
Trails donors donated to the general fund for all camps and others chose to
donate to specific camp properties:  

  • All camps as needed: $33,104.01
  • Sugar Pine:  $200
  • Hidden Falls:  $1,404.50
  • Skylark Ranch:  $1,100
  • Twin Canyon:  $2,673.80

These donations make a big difference in our ability to keep our camps open.   

Gifts of time and labor.  During FY2012 140 volunteers pitched in at 8 work parties held on 7 different camp properties. Our goal for FY2013 is to increase this to 325
volunteers at 13 work parties!

Two Sentinels ($20,000).  This is an amazing volunteer-run camp run on a beautiful
property in the High Sierra. The property is only open when camp is in session.
The Two Sentinels volunteer group stepped up and took full responsibility for
operation and maintenance of the camp, and will work with our staff property
team before and after each camp season, so we can make sure the camp meets
safety standards and is appropriately insured. This change in how we are
operating this camp property, achieves our goal for Two Sentinels, bringing it
to “break-even” operation, and reducing our forecast average annual loss (which
included average planned capital repairs) by about $20,000 each year.

Looking Ahead to 2013

The actions we took during 2012 reduced annual camp property losses by about $280,000 on a recurring basis. Our goal for 2013 is to reduce annual losses by another $100,000, primarily through increased rental and program fees and progress on the Twin Canyon Break-even plan.

Rental and Program Fees.  Our goal is to continue to increase use of our properties by members and other non-profits. We also are raising rental fees to keep up with rising costs, which include insurance and maintenance costs. We plan to generate an
incremental $50,000 through these actions during 2013. You can learn more about
property rentals at our website.

Work parties.  We have planned 13 work parties for the 2012-2013 Girl Scout year, including 4 already completed this fall. 40
volunteers pitched in at last weekend’s Butano work party, and we are expecting at least 25 at Skylark Ranch on November 3. Our goal is at least 25 volunteers at each work party – so that would be 325 volunteers during FY2013, up from 140 during the 2011-2012 year. Priscilla McKenney, our Director of Property
Development, wrote after the Butano work party:  “I worked with 9 Girl Scouts who were really great workers. We were working on the restoration of one  of our trails- primarily improving the eroded steps. This troop wants to come back and continue working on this trail!”  You can see the girls’ restoration project in this photo!

You can learn more about how to help out at the Work Party section of our website.

Bothin Outdoor Program Manager.  Bothin is our most-used and our most expensive property to operate and maintain. It is a great site for year-round gatherings. Our goal is to make it easier for members and other non-profits to rent Bothin and enjoy all
that it has to offer. Towards that end, we are hiring a new position – a year
round Bothin Outdoor Program Manager. The Bothin Outdoor Program Manager will
help coordinate program experiences at Bothin and also serve as the summer Camp
Director.  Our goal:  to make it easier for Girl Scouts and other non-profit groups to rent Bothin and experience all that Bothin has to offer, including the Challenge Course, Bothin Organic Garden, Archery and nature walks. We also are excited to be offering a week day volunteer-run archery program at Bothin, which is already sold out!

Butano Creek Improvements.  We will begin work this year on improvements to Butano Creek funded by the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, increasing capacity and making this camp work better for Girl Scout programs and camp and week day rentals to other non-profits. 

Twin Canyon Break-even Plan.  The volunteer-led Twin Canyon Working Group, began work last March, at the request of the Property Task Group, to develop a plan to get Twin Canyon to break-even operation by the 2017 budget. The Twin Canyon Working Group presented its plan to the Property Task Group earlier this month. They’ve done a great job, working closely with Diablo Day Camp volunteers, who run a wonderful summer day camp on the property for over 1,600 girls. The Twin Canyon Working Group has also worked with community members and presented a five-year plan that includes increased day camp fees, fund raising, and donations of time and
materials. Their plan for 2013 will reduce losses by about 50% with the
remaining 50% loss reduction occurring through fund raising and increased
rentals between 2014 and 2017.

Sugar Pine.  Sugar Pine is in the group of properties that we think we should be
able to get to break-even operation by increasing camp capacity to improve the
economics of this camp. However, to increase the number of girls at camp, we
need to remodel the kitchen and add some platform tents. We have included these
costs in our 2013 budget, but will not spend the money to increase capacity at
Sugar Pine until we see results indicating that 2013 revenue is on track to meet
our budget goals.   

Other Camp Property News

Camp Improvement Plans.  We have worked with a camp architect to develop improvement plans for our three most used camps:  Bothin, Butano Creek and Skylark Ranch, with a goal of increasing capacity and rentals, enhancing program experiences
and reducing repair costs.

IMG_6886Ropes and Challenge Courses.  The ropes course at Skylark Ranch and challenge course at Bothin are open for day rentals – and we are starting to increase week-day rentals.  Click
here for ropes course rental information. You can learn more about ropes course rentals in our new GSNorCal blog by clicking here.

Bothin (Marin County).  We opened an amazing Challenge Course and held a successful “Journey Weekend” and have more scheduled for 2013.

Deer Lake (near Truckee).  Because of late snow and early school start dates, the
season keeps getting shorter and that makes it increasingly difficult to manage
the costs of operating this camp property.  During 2012 we held a successful
Labor Day weekend family camp and will continue to explore ways to increase use
of this beautiful mountain property by Girl Scout members and other non-profits. 
To improve the economics of operating this camp for such a short season, we
need to increase the number of girls who can attend each session of camp.  This
would require an investment of dollars to increase the camp’s capacity.  Our
Plan calls for us to improve the economics of our Tier 1 and Tier 2 camps before
we make a decision about whether we can afford to  invest in increased capacity
at Deer Lake.

Hidden Falls (Santa Cruz  County).  This lovely property is re-opened for troop camping (it was closed pending required and expensive road repairs).  This camp has quite a bit of deferred maintenance and needs still more road work.  Once we’ve made more progress on improving the economics of our Tier 1 camps, our Property Task Group hopes to form a Hidden Falls Working Group (as we have with Twin Canyon) to help us develop a long-term plan to improve the economics of Hidden Falls.

Rainbows End (Santa Clara County).  We have the permits in hand (at long last) to repair the bridge to this property (home to Camp Metro day camp in the summer), as required by the County.  This is an underused property and we will be working with local service units during 2013 to determine whether there are opportunities to
increase its value to and use by members.

Ida Smith (San Francisco County).  We expect this property to be returned to Girl Scouts by the Water District during 2013, and will work with local members to develop a plan for its use, improvement and funding.

The Cove (Napa County).  This is a very rustic property, so it is not nearly as expensive to operate as some of our other camp properties. We’ve had success renting it to nonprofit groups that teach outdoor survival skills! Unfortunately, we had to
cancel our fall 2012 work party because of low participation.

Cordelia (Napa County).  We continue to use the outdoor space for program and the
building (which was damaged in a 2005 flood) as a Council storage facility.

It is great to see increased use, work party participation and dollars for our Camp Properties.  We are making progress because volunteers, parents, camp alumnae, staff and donors are working together towards a shared goal – to build and execute long- term sustainable plans to maintain and operate our camp properties. That’s how we save our
camps!

If you are interested in learning more about the Property Plan and progress to save our camps, I encourage you to visit the following sites:

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Member Update, October 1, 2012: Celebrating our 5 Year Anniversary!

Oct. 1, 2012

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

Congratulations! Today is the 5th anniversary of Girl Scouts of Northern California! Thank you to each of you for helping us build the council we have become. We have a lot to be proud of.

Five years ago, we had five separate websites, email systems, phone
systems, volunteer management systems, two cookie bakers, no online registration
(for membership, program, camp, property reservations), no online training, no
online shop, and none of us had heard of Journeys or Girl’s Guides!

Fast forward to today:blog-20110510

Volunteers. We have more adult volunteers than any other
Girl Scout council in the U.S.

Girls. We grew total girl members,  volunteer led troops, and  Daisy girl members during 2012 – we now have 48,600 girl members – with almost 41,000 girls participating through
4,100 volunteer led troops, and growing representation from all of the communities we serve.

Cookies. We’ve had 5 years in a row of record cookie sales – essential support during this challenging economy.

Program. During 2012, over 55,000 participants enjoyed GSNorCal programs, including 22,000 who
attended One Hundred, Fun Hundred. Got Choices serves 660 at-risk girls in 5 counties, helping them build skills to make healthy choices, and our Girls Go Tech and Green By Nature programs-in-a-box reach girls throughout Northern
California.

Camp. We’ve focused on camp, and this past summer a record number of girls – 11,669
– attended  council-run and volunteer-run camps. This represents an almost 50
percent increase in the number of girls and families attending council-run
camps, up from 2,991 during the 2008 summer to 4,424 girls and family members in
2012!  

Technology. We’ve invested in and built an IT infrastructure that ties together all our offices
and field locations  and ensures data and privacy protection for members.

Online. 80% of GSNorCal members are now registering online for GSUSA membership. And it’s hard for any of us to imagine life without online program and camp registration and
property reservations. We’ve invested in online training and are adding more
online training modules each year. Our online shop is our third largest shop in
terms of sales. And online newsletters, like Monday Mailing, keep members in all
areas of the council up to date on news and events.

Fundraising. We’ve raised funds from foundations, corporations, and individuals to support our general operations and  delivery of Girl Scout programs to over 7,000 girls in underserved communities each year and to help us organize and support troops in these communities.

Celebration! Volunteers, girls, and staff from all areas of our council worked together to
create One Hundred, Fun Hundred – an incredible celebration of Girl Scouts that
made all of us proud to be part of Girl Scouts of Northern California.

DSC00886 4

It’s taken a lot of work by all of us to get our council through our first five years. There is still much work to be done, but today’s a day for celebration and appreciation!

Thank you for all that you each have done to help build Girl Scouts of Northern California.

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September 21, 2012

Member Update, August 31: Excited about ramping up for a new year!

Aug. 31, 2012

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

Most of our girls are back in school and we’re ramping up for a new membership year – 48,000 girls, 31,000 volunteers, and 150 staff creating opportunities girls want and experiences that change lives! 

I know that many of you also are resting up from an active summer – over 10,000 girls went camping this summer at 23 volunteer-run camps, 5 staff-led 100_0465camps, and California Dreamin’ International Camporee (our British Girl Guide friends to the right were all smiles!). Thank you for making sure that no girl was left inside this summer!

This update covers:
Summer Highlights. 
What were the highlights of your summer? Highlights for me included visiting the California Dreamin’ Camporee  opening and closing ceremonies, especially the closing where I heard stories from the 400 campers about their fun week! Camp CEO at Camp Bothin, and Lights, Cameras ... Robots! at Santa Clara University for girls in our Daughters of Farmworkers program. Another very cool and unexpected treat: backpackers at one of our camps had the honor of blogging about their lunches on the trail for the NeverSeconds” blog  – an international phenomenon, started by a 9-year-old school girl in Scotland about her school lunches, that has evolved to a global conversation about healthy food and hunger. This was an incredible opportunity for the Wanderers back packing group to share their experiences with the world, while also adding to the conversation about food and clean water. Their posts are delightful and inspiring – scroll through August archives to Aug. 13 and you can work forward to all their posts (which ran Aug. 13-17).    
 
Camp CEO 2012 564Camp CEO connects teen girls from underserved communities with women executives. 2012  was our biggest Camp CEO ever with 71 high school girls and 30 mentors, with three nights of camping for the girls and two for the mentors. We had two buses this year. One bus brought girls from our North Central area, stopping in Red Bluff, Chico, Corning, Orland, and Sonoma; the other brought girls on a zig zag route from San Jose with stops in Redwood City, Oakland and Richmond, and finally, staff drove girls in cars from San Francisco and Santa Rosa. It was great to meet girls from so many areas of Northern California. At Camp CEO, many of the girls experience camp for the first time.  They spend time with mentors in fun activities – like “spa night,” archery, crafts, the organic garden, and challenge course – and also learn about the difference between “fearships” and “friendships,” setting goals, shifting strategies when things aren’t working and asking for help. We also watched Miss Representation, and talked about ways stereotypes can limit what we imagine for ourselves. Camp CEO is made possible by generous donations from the mentors, their companies, Kaiser Permanente, City of San Jose, Lowell Barry Foundation, and the Thrive Foundation for Youth. 

Another highlight for me was my visit to Lights, Cameras ... Robots! – a three day program at the University of Santa Clara that introduced 60 girls in our Daughters of Farm Workers program to robotics, movie making, and role models. It was awesome. I wrote about Lights, Cameras ... Robots! for SFGate.

National CEO, Anna Maria Chávez, Visiting GSNorCal Next Week! 
ANNA%2BSEPTEMBER%2B12Anna Maria Chávez is visiting Silicon Valley and San Francisco Sept. 4-6, on her first visit to Northern California as the CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. Her visit includes receptions and meetings at Facebook, LinkedIn, and the Hispanic Community Foundation. You can follow along with Anna on her visit, as she updates her GSUSA blog. At LinkedIn, our Board member and LinkedIn’s General Counsel, Erika Rottenberg, will interview Anna as part of the LinkedIn inDay Speaker Series – you can watch Anna and Erika (and me) via live stream at 2 p.m. PT Wednesday, Sept. 5!
  • Follow Anna Chavez’ updates: click here.
  • View a live stream of the LinkedIn “inDay Speaker Series: click here.
  • We’ll also be posting updates to our Facebook page and on Twitter!
Our Final Forever Green 100th Anniversary Fundraisers!  
20120312_1_0278We set a bold goal for Girl Scouts of Northern California’s 100th Anniversary celebrations – we are honoring 100 women who are greening the future of Northern California, at seven events held throughout out council.  We’ve held three wonderful events in San Francisco, Alamo, and Rutherford. Next up: Chico, Eureka, Menlo Park, and Santa Rosa. Our first three events were magical – impressive women and girl table ambassadors served as powerful reminders that when a girl succeeds, we all succeed. I hope you can join us at one of our remaining events – tickets are on sale now! We have a total of 27 confirmed Forever Green Award recipients attending these events – click here for tickets and sponsorships and to see who will be at each event!
  • Wednesday, Sept. 19, Chico luncheon at Christian Michael’s Ristorante
  • Thursday, Sept. 20, Eureka luncheon at Avalon (only 23 tickets left!)
  • Thursday, Oct. 4, Menlo Park dinner at Rosewood Hotel
  • Thursday, Nov. 8, Santa Rosa dinner at Paradise Ridge Winery
 
Taking Care of our Camps!    Deer Lake lake web
We end this year’s summer camp season with a first – family camp at Deer Lake!  You can see from this picture, it is a beautiful place to enjoy the end of summer with friends and family.

Next up, we need to turn our attention to repairs and maintenance needed after a summer of exuberant!  Our camps welcome over 30,000 users each year, and it takes dollars and time to keep our camps in good shape and ready for the upcoming season of troop and service unit camping.


Tents and Trails Campaign. 
Keep your eyes open for our annual Tents and Trails donate-nowfundraising appeal – we’ll be sending it out via email in early September.  Your contributions make a big difference for our camps.  If you want to earmark your gift for a specific camp property, you can add a note in the “comments” section of our online donation system. 

Volunteer Work Parties Help Us Keep our Camps Open.  
We have Fall Work Parties coming up at 6 camps and we can use your help!  Lunch and tools provided (plus, you can earn the GSNorCal Work Party Patch!):
  • Twin Canyon (Alameda County): Sept. 29
  • Bothin/Arequipa (Marin County): Oct. 13
  • Butano (San Mateo County): Oct. 13
  • The Cove (Napa County): Oct. 13
  • Skylark (Santa Cruz County): Nov. 3
  • Cordelia (Solano County): Nov. 3
Sign up today by clicking here and typing work party name in the description box. For more information, click here to visit our property web pages. For specific questions regarding work parties, contact David Poock, dpoock@girlscoutsnorcal.org or Priscilla McKenney, pmckenney@girlscoutsnorcal.org. Thank you for helping us keep our camps open and keep them in good repair for girls today and tomorrow. 

2012-2013 Membership Year Off to a Quick Start: August-October Highlights for MVP (Membership, Volunteer Resources, & Program).
  • Service Unit Summit. On Aug. 18, Service Unit leaders and GSNorCal’s membership, volunteer resources, and program staff met to get the year started – the theme was “Prep Rally,” with time together (and fully loaded flash drives) to help everyone get ready for  a new Girl Scout year.
  • New MVP Director for Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. We are excited that Kathy Johanson, a long time Community Development Director in Santa Clara County, is moving to Eureka for a newly-created position, overseeing membership, volunteer resources, and programs for the “Redwoods” area of our council.  Sept. 4 will be Kathy’s first day of work in this new position.
  • Open Houses at the Oakland and San Jose Offices:
    • Oakland Office - Sept. 8.  Join us from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8 for Open House at the Oakland Office, 7700 Edgewater Drive, Suite 340, Oakland! Get fingerprinted and learn more about Choices, Journeys, Green By Nature, Girls Go Tech, registration, leader resources, and much more. Kids will have a chance to win prizes; bring a friend and get a free copy of the One Hundred, Fun Hundred collectible program. At the Retail Store, you can save an additional 20% off all clearance items, and you'll get a free backpack if you spend $25 or more. Click here for more.
    • San Jose Office - Sept. 15 - San Jose Join us from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the San Jose Office, 1310 S. Bascom, in San Jose. Meet the San Jose staff, enjoy fun activities for girls, get fingerprinted (adults only)! Renew your membership, sample nuts and play Wheel of Cookies, and learn more about Green by Nature & Girls Go Tech! Make a craft at our Hispanic Initiative booth and see what’s in Juliette Low’s trunk! Shop in the store and take advantage of our one-day only deals: take an extra 20% off already discounted red-tag items, buy one get one fun patch free, and 25% off all Webkins! Click here for more.
  • Ducky Derby Discount Ends Today! Your chance to win one of 2get tickets iPads and much more and raise funds for Girl Scouts Sept. 22 at Great America! Ducky Derby Discount pricing available today - only $32 per person (price increases to $35 Sept. 1!) and ducky-derby-logo-2012includes one duck entrance in race, one admission ticket to Great America, and a patch! Our $120 Family Four Pack is available ONLY today - that price includes 4 ducks, 4 Great America tickets, 4 patches, and 2 100th Anniversary cushions. Season pass holders can buy a Duck Only ticket for just $20!
  • Fall Product Sale – Starts Sept. 28!
  • Fall Festival at Whiskeytown.  Registration is now open for the Fall Festival, Oct. 12-14 at Whiskeytown (outside of Redding)! Don’t miss this great learning opportunity for adults. Click here to register and for more information. Space is limited and classes fill quickly so register early to secure your spot. Early registration discounts end Sept. 10.
What are You Excited about for this Year? I’d Love to Hear! 
 
DSC01139I asked our staff team, “what are you most excited about for the upcoming membership year?” I know that I am excited about having such a great group of staff and volunteers to work with on what matters most – building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place!  Click here to read answers, from 30 of our staff – it’s a great way to get a sense of all that’s going on at Girl Scouts of Northern California.    

I hope you each enjoy a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I know this Labor Day, I will be giving thanks to and celebrating the commitment of our wonderful Girl Scouts of Northern California staff.

As always, please send me your questions, comments, and suggestions for improvement.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

mpark_sig

Marina H. Park, CEO
Girl Scouts of Northern California

Posted at 12:47 PM in General Girl Scout News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Member Update, July 25, 2012: Reflections on our Remarkable Year

Lot's going on this summer, and I fell behind in re-posting my member updates to the Member's Update blog.  Here's my July post and coming soon, August!  Marina

July 25, 2012

Dear Members and Friends of Girl Scouts,

I hope you each are enjoying a wonderful summer. Over 10,000 Girl Scouts from Northern California are enjoying Girl Scout camps and travel destinations this summer! Before we head into the 2012-2013 school year, I welcome each of you to join me in reflecting on the remarkable school year that just ended and the summer in progress:

Gold Awards. 526216_409243812443900_651984799_n
During the 2011-2012 school year, 200 Northern California Girl Scouts earned their Gold Awards, the highest honor in Girl Scouts. It was fun to recognize 45 of this year’s Gold Award recipients at One Hundred Fun Hundred. Did you know that the armed services think so highly of the Gold Award that girls who earn the Gold Award enter at one rank higher than other recruits? Many colleges and universities also recognize the hard work, discipline, organizational skills, and values that the Gold Award represents. I just received notice of a scholarship award to one of our Gold Award recipients from the Corrine Jean Schillings Foundation (cjsfoundation.org), which awards scholarships to young women who have earned their Silver and/or Gold Awards. Claire Mathieson, of Alameda County, is one of just 12 Girl Scout graduates nationwide who was awarded this scholarship. Congratulations, Claire! In announcing this award, the Foundation wrote to me: “We also hope that you will continue to promote the Foundation’s educational opportunities available to Silver and/or Gold Award Girl Scouts.” I hope this update helps with that promotion! You can learn more about Girl Scout Awards – Bronze, Silver and Gold here on our web site.    
sarah williams
Congratulations also to Pleasanton Gold Award Girl Scout Sarah Williams, who had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch through Buckingham, England earlier this month.  Sarah is one of just 22 Americans selected for this honor. Sarah discussed her Gold Award at our 2011 Annual Meeting. As described in her “torchbearers bio,” Sarah’s Take Action Gold Award project, which involved making blankets for children in foster care, has now touched the lives of 10,000 foster children and countless volunteers. She's raised $80,000 and introduced the project in six states and to thousands of Girl Scouts at May’s One Hundred, Fun Hundred event.  
 
Class of 2012 High School Graduates. 
Congratulations to the 794 Girl Scouts who graduated from high school this year, and thank you to the many volunteers who guided these girls on their journey through Girl Scouts. Girls stay in Girl Scouts when they are learning new things, having fun, making friends, and expanding their horizons – and all of that happens with the love and support of amazing volunteers. We hope our graduating girls will stay connected to Girl Scouts:  follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/gsnorcal or Twitter at twitter.com/gsnorcal, think about applying to be a summer camp counselor, or volunteer as a Girl Scout adult, and be sure to visit girlscoutsnorcal.org/alumna to learn about events and register as an alumna!

Daisy Girl Scouts.  K-8 girls at Sundial 2
Our Daisy Girl Scout programs are growing – we have almost 9,050 girls in grades K-1 registered for Girl Scouts this year, compared to just under 8,000 for all of the 2011-2012 membership year. Thank you to our Service Unit volunteers who are helping to organize and mentor new troop leaders. I love this picture of Daisies bridging to Brownies across the Sun Dial Bridge in Redding ... so full of fun and energy and just starting their journey through Girl Scouts.

Renew your Membership Now for 2012-2013! 
Your current registration expires Sept. 30 – so be sure to register for Girl Scouts of the USA before Oct. 1. If you are new to online membership renewal or need a refresher, click here for step-by-step instructions you can print and follow. Here are a few interesting facts and figures about GSUSA membership:
  • It costs $12 to join GSUSA for the 2012-2013 membership year. Your $1/month dues support Girl Scouts of the USA and pay for an insurance program that covers you when you participate in Girl Scout activities.
  • Your GSUSA dues do NOT support Girl Scouts of Northern California – GSNorCal raises funds through product sales, donations, program and camp fees and property reservations 
  • When you join GSUSA, you are part of a nationwide movement that helps build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. There are 2.3 million girl and 890,000 adult members in the United States and in 92 countries, as part of Girl Scouts overseas, which serves American girls living overseas.
One Hundred, Fun Hundred. 
Our spectacular May 5th anniversary celebration was the program highlight of the year – representing an incredible collaboration among staff and volunteers to produce a once in a life time celebration of Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary for almost 24,000 Girl Scouts! My favorite video from the event is this one – fireworks, with girls singing along! I’ll carry One Hundred, Fun Hundred in my heart for many years to come!

Forever Green (Green by Nature, Conservation Easements, and 100th Anniversary Fundraisers). 
During our 100th anniversary year, Girl Scouts of Northern California can be proud of our 2012 Forever Green accomplishments:ForeverGreenPhoto
  • Green By Nature Programs. Over 12,000 girls participated in Green By Nature environmental education and stewardship programs during the 2012 school year, including the Girl Scouts Save the Bay badge series, Eco Choices program boxes, Cool the Earth, and the Bothin Organic Garden. In addition, in celebration of Girl Scout’s 100th Anniversary, over 1,100 girls have partnered with local agencies and non-profits to plant over 58,000 trees throughout Northern California! I love this picture from Service Unit 101’s 100th Anniversary Tree Planting. You can learn more about our Green By Nature programs online here. 
  • Conservation Easements. The Conservation Easements on Camp Butano Creek and Skylark Ranch that we announced this past March will help us keep these camps forever green – preserving trees while also raising essential reserve funds to support the camps repair and maintenance. 
  • 124_5579_TS_0532Forever Green Fundraisers. We launched a series of seven 2012 fundraisers held throughout Northern California, honoring 100 amazing women who are greening the future of Northern California through their contributions to our communities, science, the arts, philanthropy, business, education, and health. To date, we’ve held events in San Francisco, Alamo, and Rutherford. This fall, we’ll be holding four more events celebrating amazing women and 100 years of Girl Scouts and reminding us why investing in girls is an investment in our communities! I hope you will join us as at a Forever Green fundraiser in your community – click here to learn more! 
    • Chico, September 19 
    • Eureka, September 20
    • Menlo Park, October 4
    • Santa Rosa, November 8
Choices. 
Everyone was, of course, super busy with One Hundred, Fun Hundred; however, our creative, energetic program staff still managed to offer Choices events through April for almost 24,000 participants. One Hundred, Fun Hundred, on May 5 doubled that participation number in one day!

Outreach.  zone-2 opp fund
Thanks to generous donors, foundations, and volunteers, we’ve raised funds that have made it possible to bring Girl Scouts to 4,500 girls in under-resourced and diverse neighborhoods, including rural areas, urban communities, homeless shelters, low-income housing units, and detention centers. We also are on track to provide $180,000 in financial aid to girls to help them become Girl Scout members, participate in programs, and attend camp and Girl Scout destinations. We raise funds for financial aid through our Opportunity Fund. 100% of Opportunity Fund donations are used to provide financial aid to girls, and every donation makes a difference – take a look!
 
100_0431One of the things I love about Girl Scouts is our collaborative use of resources to create unique and inspiring opportunities for girls. Each summer, we run a day camp as part of our Daughters of Farm Workers program. This June, thanks to a generous grant from Dell, 60 girls from farm worker communities in Gilroy, San Martin, and Half Moon Bay spent three days on the Santa Clara University campus, learning about robots and digital movie-making, meeting role models, and exploring stereotypes – their power, the harm they can cause and how to overcome stereotypes. 

Last week, thanks to a generous grant from the Audubon Society, 90 girls from Girl Scouts’ Daughters of Farm Workers day camp program enjoyed field trips to Camp Butano Creek and the nearby Pescadero State Park where they learned about birds from members of the Audubon Society, went on a nature walk, practiced archery skills, and worked on the Green By Nature “In the Flyway” badge. 

Camp. 
Camp season is in full swing. Almost 4,500 campers have registered to attend council-run day, resident and family camps, and another 6,000 or so girls are enjoying 25 volunteer-run day and resident camps. 

California Dreamin’ International Camporee.  
At the end of this month (July 27–Aug. 5), more than 400 girls and their leaders from 5 countries and 9 U.S. states will gather the Alameda County Fairgrounds for a volunteer-led international camporee and 100th Anniversary celebration! The dedicated planning group has organized an incredible array of field trips and workshops for campers who are travelling from Uganda, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada – and 9 U.S. states: Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, Oregon, Florida, Missouri, California, Arizona, and Utah.  I look forward to meeting the campers at the opening and closing ceremonies. 

Girl Scouts in the News. 
ecct0307scouts02.sJPG_900_540_0_95_1_50_50.sJPG?1342743823I often hear we need to do a better job of letting the world know about Girl Scouts. We made good progress this year! The 23 volunteer members of our “Girl Scout Grapevine” worked with our Communications Team to get lots of stories into local news outlets – from the Siskiyou Daily News and McKinleyville Press to the north, to the San Jose Mercury News to the south – about service projects, Gold Awards, cookie sales, and 100th Anniversary Town Square celebrations. In addition, Girl Scouts were featured in a number of major stories tied to our 100th Anniversary, conservation easements, cookies, and One Hundred Fun Hundred. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but this widely-published 100th Anniversary feature is at the top of my list, along with an amazing photo gallery.

Check out our News Archive online here for more great Girl Scout stories in area media!

I hope you each are enjoying a wonderful summer. Thank you to all of the volunteers who are donating time to create wonderful camp experiences, and thank you to all of the volunteers who are resting up before launching into a fabulous 2012-2013 school year.  It’s hard to believe, but some schools will be back in session by mid-August. 

As always, please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

mpark_sig

Marina H. Park, CEO
Girl Scouts of Northern California

Posted at 12:42 PM in 100th Anniversary Celebration, Camp Programs and Properties, General Girl Scout News | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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