There’s a lot going on with local Girl Scouts and it’s not just about boxes of cookies.
Of course selling Girls Scout Cookies is an integral part of our organization. We use the revenue to continue our amazing programs that nurture girls’ development. But as booths start to pop up and a Girl Scout may ring your doorbell to test her marketing skills, much more is going on this year.
Susan Douglas at the ribbon-cutting for the Erlanger Girl Scout Service Center.
On January 17 we cut the ribbon to open the innovative Erlanger Girl Scout Service Center, the precursor to a huge campus that will take local Girl Scouting to an exciting new level. The Price Avenue Center will serve as a beacon for educational sessions, innovative programming, troop and volunteer meetings, STEM education, and the sale of Girl Scout merchandise. There will be land for outdoor activities. It capitalizes on what selling cookies leads to: personal development aimed at changing the world.
Through cookie sales, each Girl Scout unboxes her future. She learns to boldly ask for sales, prepares marketing plans, and discovers sales techniques and distribution strategies. These invaluable, durable skills follow them into adulthood.
Without being dramatic, many prominent women got their start as change makers by serving as Girl Scouts. Did you know that all three of the female U.S. Secretaries of State launched their professional journey as a Girl Scout? Locally, CVG CEO Candace McGraw, Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky President Amy Spiller, world-renowned entrepreneur Donna Salyers, and long-time director at Citi Kris Attema all began their business growth as a Girl Scout?
There are many, many more who can be listed.
We can’t forget award-winning journalist Judy Clabes, long-time editor of the Kentucky Post and now the Northern Kentucky Tribune editor who was an enthusiastic Girl Scout. She says, “I loved Girl Scouts. Our troop was comprised of good friends and neighborhood buddies. We fully enjoyed our camping and outdoor experiences, the overnights, and the general camaraderie. The experiences were all part of a solid foundation for growing up ‘being prepared’ and facing the challenges young women still face today.”
Now with our dream of a huge campus that will propel our girls into the future, we are filled with excitement and anticipation. We are creating change agents. When you buy cookies, we get girls full of confidence who will be the next generation of workers here and across the nation.
All of us can be proud of these budding entrepreneurs. Whether you were a Girl Scout, have a daughter, granddaughter, relative, or friend in Girl Scouting, or just have a heart for our community’s future, I thank you in advance for buying cookies and traveling along on our journey to build the local Girl Scout Service Center into one of the nation’s cutting edge facilities for preparing our future leaders.
To learn more about us, please visit www.gskentucky.org.
Susan Douglas is CEO of the Girls Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road which serves over 8,000 girls in 66 counties and one Ohio county.
