Virginia Beach Girl Scout Works with Local Hospice Care Center

Amanda, a Virginia Beach Girl Scout, experienced a tragedy last year when her aunt passed away. In the days leading up to her passing, her aunt was in hospice care, and Amanda and her family spent time at the hospice home visiting her aunt. While there, Amanda noticed that there were a lot of activities to keep her younger sister occupied, as well as her and her teenage cousins. For her Silver Award project, Amanda decided to honor her aunt by creating a family-friendly environment at a local hospice care center.

At the hospice center where Amanda completed her project, there was a family room, but it was not inviting for families. There was a bookshelf with mostly books for adults, crayons but no coloring books and a television, but no DVD player or DVDs. Amanda spoke with the volunteer coordinator about other needs at the hospice center, and it was requested that she make blankets for children.

Amanda got to work collecting books, coloring books and DVDs. She also collected games. She made a file organizer with cards for every season with personal, meaningful notes on each one. Amanda also gathered her friends, taught them how to crochet, and they made blankets.

"I learned how to turn grief into joy," Amanda said. "Whoever did all of those things for the families at my aunt's hospice center really inspired me to do all of that and more locally."

In order to make sure that she continues to make an impact, Amanda wrote out directions for troop leaders so that they can make crochet blankets or cards as a service project while learning a new skill. Amanda's family has also committed to gathering every year on her aunt's birthday to honor her memory by making more cards for the file and crochet blankets.

Little Free Library by Troop 1694

All of the girls in Troop 1694 love to read. As Brownies, one of their favorite community service projects was holding a book drive to collect books for homeless children. As Juniors, when they gathered to brainstorm Bronze Award projects, they excitedly decided to build a Little Free Library.

With a project in mind, the girls started researching. They took time during a troop meeting to walk to a Little Free Library that had already been built and installed.

“They talked about how the structured had to be designed to withstand the weather, to be waterproof to protect the books, to be easy for children and adults to open and to be aesthetically pleasing so that it would fit into the neighborhood,” Trish Jones, a co-leader of Troop 1694, said.

The girls then downloaded blueprints to build a Little Free Library and visited a Home Depot store, where members of the staff helped the girls construct the library. A few weeks later, they painted the structure. They chose yellow for the inside and navy blue for the outside to correlate with the school colors at The Williams School, where they planned to install the Little Free Library.

Next, the girls held a book drive, and they collected 150 books to fill the library.

The girls worked with the headmaster at The Williams School to choose the perfect location to install the library. They decided to put it near the school’s vegetable garden. In this location, students and their families, as well as members of the public walking down the sidewalk, can easily access the Little Free Library.

“Local support has been very positive,” Trish said. “Both the school community and the neighborhood community are excited about the Little Free Library.”

Members of the troop selected a week during each month to be responsible for maintaining the Little Free Library. They will check it, clean it, refill it and, if necessary, repair it, during their week of responsibility. The girls plan to maintain the Little Free Library for years to come in this way, and they will eventually pass along the maintenance to a younger Girl Scout troop.

“The girls learned that they can do anything that they want to do if they come up with a plan and put their minds to it,” Trish said. “We cannot wait to see what other positive things they will do in the future!”

Gold Award Spotlight: Start Gay-Straight Alliance Across Hampton Roads

Madison, a Norfolk Girl Scout, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

For her project, Madison established Gay-Straight Alliance chapters at Maury High School, Grassfield High School and Western Branch High School. She also helped to restart a chapter at Granby High School, and worked with teachers and students at two additional high schools on their plans to start chapters. Through these Gay-Straight Alliance chapters, Madison worked to address discrimination faced by LGBQT students by creating safe places at schools for them to socialize and fight for equality with their straight and supportive classmates.

Madison also hosted a welcoming, inclusive prom for LGBQT high school students and their straight allies. Nearly 100 students from across Hampton Roads attended the prom, many of whom shared that they didn’t feel welcome to attend the prom hosted by their school.

“People are afraid of people that are different from them,” Madison said. “I wanted to create safer schools and healthier communities by increasing awareness and acceptance of LGBTQ high school students.”

Madison arranged for the local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and the LGBT Center of Hampton Roads to continue to mentor chapters of the Gay-Straight Alliance and make her prom an annual event.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in the community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than six percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Madison to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.

Scout Ready

GSCCC introduced nearly 100 families to Girl Scouts during Scout Ready, hosted on September 23 at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach and Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News. The "Be Prepared" event was designed to help families learn about safety and emergency preparedness, while offering them the chance to become Girl Scouts!

During Scout Ready, families visited booths where they learned about sand safety from a Gold Award Girl Scout, boating safety from the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, CPR from EMTA Enterprises, online safety from the Office of the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney and more. Families also had the chance to tour an ambulance and police vehicle while meeting local first responders. Members of Girl Scout Troop 302 from Chesapeake helped children make their own mini first aid kits, and, with the help of children at the event, put together a bullying prevention quilt. Many families also took the time to have their children fingerprinted for the Virginia Child Identification Program.

WAVY-TV 10 Meteorologist Deitra Tate met families at Scout Ready in Virginia Beach, where she shared information about preparing for hurricanes and other weather events. She also handed out hurricane preparedness guides and signed autographs for fans.

Miss Scout Ready but still want to join Girl Scouts? Attend a sign-up event near you, or register online.

Volunteer Kickoff

Nearly 100 volunteers attended our annual Volunteer Kickoff, which was held on September 23 at Old Dominion University. Volunteers rallied around Team G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader), and enjoyed an energizing day in preparation for the new Girl Scout year. As part of the Team G.I.R.L. theme, volunteers wore their favorite team gear- jerseys, T-shirts, hats and more, and captured their enthusiasm in the Team Spirit Photo Booth.

For many volunteers, a highlight of the day was hearing from Chesapeake Girl Scout Lea, who was selected as one of 10 Girl Scouts from across the country to be honored as a National Young Woman of Distinction for the work that she did for her Gold Award project. At the kickoff, Lea spoke about her project, which focused on oyster restoration to help clean the Chesapeake Bay. After hearing from Lea, many volunteers took photos with our local star.

During the event, GSCCC CEO Tracy Keller accepted a check on behalf of the Council for $50,000 from the Arconic Foundation. This money will be used for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and programming. 

Volunteers also had the opportunity to take part in a wide range of workshops, including Volunteer Toolkit, Highest Awards, Outdoor Skills, Troop Organization and Craft Ideas. And, community partners set up exhibits for volunteers to learn about opportunities for their troops.