Secretary Maurice Jones is Man Enough to Be a Girl Scout

Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones, who has worked throughout his life towards excellence in leadership, was more than happy to step up and support the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast campaign— Man Enough to Be a Girl Scout— to help promote leadership opportunities for girls. On Friday, May 8, Secretary Jones met with a group of Girl Scouts at the Slover Library in Norfolk, where he talked to the girls about their experiences in the organization, and the girls presented him with a Man Enough T-shirt. Secretary Jones was particularly interested in hearing about the financial literacy skills that the girls had gained through their participation in the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

Girl Scout Cadette Lily from Chesapeake talked to Secretary Jones about the Business Plan badge that she recently earned. She told him about the process of setting her goal to sell over 1,000 boxes of cookies, creating a strategy to reach her goal and developing a risk management to prepare for any unexpected issues during cookie season.

“This year I met my goal and sold over 1,000 boxes of cookies despite the cold and icy weather,” Lily told Secretary Jones. “The winter weather was a setback, but I modified my business plan because I still wanted to reach my goal.”

While stuck indoors in the snow and unable to go set up cookie booths outside of local businesses, Lily decided to bundle up and walk through her neighborhood with cookies in tow to sell to her neighbors. As it turned out, many of her neighbors were snowed in, and she was able to reach many new customers. Secretary Jones complemented Lily for her ability to be flexible in her business plan and reach her goal.

Girls then told Secretary Jones about the leadership awards that they working on, and he talked to them about the importance of taking advantage of any leadership opportunities that come their way.

“Taking part in leadership experiences have opened so many doors in my career,” Secretary Jones said. “Always accept a leadership position because it will give you the confidence, skills and experience you need to be successful.”

Through the Man Enough campaign, Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast hopes to have at least 100 men step up and volunteer with the organization, whether it be for a day, a week or more. The annual membership fee for Man Enough is $75 and includes membership into the Girl Scout organization, a Man Enough T-shirt and admission to a Girl Scout Cookie and beer pairing event on June 28 at Smartmouth Brewing Company in Norfolk. For more information, visit www.gsccc.org.