In 1912, 18 girls gathered in Savannah, Ga., for the very first Girl Scout meeting. One hundred years later, girls across the country will be celebrating this monumental occasion in true Scout fashion with their Centennial Day of Service, and the girls in the River Valley region are joining the effort.
On October 13, approximately 34,000 girls will head out to participate in Centennial Day of Service: 2012, all with the goal of cleaning up the local algae problem in community waters. “We decided to do an outdoors project because the founder of Girl Scouts had a passion for the outdoors,” says Kayla Schmalz, the Girl Scouts program specialist for the region.
The girls will be raking leaves to decrease algae growth, marking storm drains to remind residents not to throw items into them and educating residents about the algae problem.
Volunteers are extremely important in the Girl Scout community; without local volunteers to get the ball rolling, big projects like this would be very difficult to organize. “They are the ones who are making it happen in the community,” says Schmalz.
One thing is certain: Whether helping improve the environment or selling delicious cookies, the Girl Scouts are making the community a better place for everyone.
