girl scouts of the colonial coastMeet Volunteer Specialist Angie Bright! A lifetime Girl Scout who joined as a Girl Scout Brownie and continued throughout her school years, earning the Girl Scout Silver Award along the way for implementing a year-long program at a nursing home. Angie says her interest began when she saw how much fun her sister was having as a Girl Scout. She couldn’t wait to be old enough to join and wear the Girl Scout Brownie uniform. Once a Girl Scout, she dedicated hours to earning badges and awards that included the Girl Scout Silver Award for a year-long program she did for an area nursing home.
Her adult years began when her daughter, Madelynn, joined a Girl Scout Daisy troop in Virginia Beach in 2005. Angie was thrilled! She had long anticipated being involved again but this time the journey would be hand-in-hand with her daughter.
Madelynn and Angie
After her role as troop helper in her daughter's two Daisy troops, her husband was transferred from Dam Neck Naval Base to the USS Fitzgerald at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. From 2007 to 2011, she volunteered as a leader for Girl Scout Brownie and Junior troops. Overlapping her leader role, she was also the OCMT (Overseas Committee Management Team) Secretary for the Yokosuka Girl Scouts from 2009 to 2011. In addition, she was the Host Nation Liaison from 2010 until 2013. In that role, she planned projects and events with our local Japanese Girl Scouts, assisting each USAGSO troop to partner with a sister, host nation troop for intercultural exchange throughout the year.
The OCMT role included relationship building with the base legal department, Hospital Health Services, various commands as well as providing updates to the base CO's office, ensuring that all local military regulations and SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) statutes were observed.
Her husband's naval career then brought the family to Jacksonville, Florida for two years where she volunteered as a troop helper. Then, another move, this time to Spain and another opportunity to volunteer. This time as a leader in a multi-level troop of Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors. The ffamily’s final and permanent change brought them back to Hampton Roads. Angie volunteered for a year before joining the GSCCC staff.
“I have spent most of my life as a military dependent,” Angie said. “My father was a naval medical officer stationed in Cherry Point, NC when I first stepped into the Girl Scout Friendship Circle. The beautiful thing about being a Girl Scout is that you have a built-in community or circle of friends waiting to greet you with each new duty station. Between my Brownie and Junior years my father was transferred from Cherry Point to Pensacola, Fl. Joining a troop shortly after our arrival certainly helped me with the transition.”
Angie also emphasized that the benefit doesn’t end with the girl. As a stay at home mom, being a Girl Scout volunteer provided her a sense of security and stability as her family moved from one duty station to the next. She was able to meet new people and forge friendships amongst the troop parents and other volunteers, far faster than she would have otherwise. She also found that volunteering with USAGSO (Girl Scouts overseas) helped fill the empty hours (months) that her husband was deployed with a sense of purpose.
Madelynn Bridges to and Adult Girl Scout
“Being an Adult Girl Scout volunteer has been one of the most rewarding and adventurous experiences of my life,” Angie said. “Over the course of my volunteer service and as a member of a military family, I have had the opportunity to be a catalyst for change in the world. I strongly believe that as a Girl Scout volunteer and now as a professional, I am making a difference and encouraging girls to be the leaders of tomorrow. My volunteer role has just been a drop in the bucket, so to speak, but the ripples have global implications.”
On February 22, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides across 150 countries celebrated World Thinking Day—that’s one big celebration! The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), along with Girl Scouts of the USA and the other WAGGGS member organizations, have celebrated World Thinking Day since 1926. That’s when delegates from around the globe met at Camp Edith Macy—now called Edith Macy Conference Center—in New York and agreed that February 22 would now be known as a special day for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts worldwide.
Observed by 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts worldwide, World Thinking Day 2021 celebrated what it means to be a peacebuilder, an important component of our global Movement.
Amazing advocated like Angie put what it means to be a Girl Scout into a global perspective, truly making a difference!
