A few years ago our success story was about one of our outstanding volunteers named Georgette. She had been involved with Girl Scouts as a volunteer for over 30 years in the Pana area which included being a Brownie Troop Leader and a Council Trainer. A couple of years ago Georgette decided to take some time off from Girl Scouts. In the fall of 2008 Georgette decided that it was time to become involved with Girl Scouts again, but this time she wanted to do something different, something more challenging. Over the summer, Georgette was talking with a friend of hers from church, who happens to work at Kemmerer Village outside of Assumption. Georgette, being a curious Girl Scout, asked a lot of questions about the girls staying at Kemmerer: How old were they? How did they come to Kemmerer Village? What was their situation? Would they be interested in learning more about Girl Scouts? Once the seed was planted with Georgette, she went to work! Georgette decided to talk to several people at Kemmerer and quietly went about making plans to start working with this group of challenging young women.
Georgette successfully started the first Girl Scout troop at Kemmerer Village in October 2008, which has become a core part of providing local girl sin Christian County with the opportunities to become the leaders they are meant to be and to plan for their future. This year’s troop consists of seven girls in junior high and high school. Many of these girls would not be able to participate in Girl Scouts because of their circumstances. To stay involved in the program each girl must adhere to behavior standards and rules. Every girl has greatly benefitted by being a part of this Girl Scout troop by attending monthly troop meetings, meeting new friends, and experiencing the Girl Scout program. These teenage girls love making crafts, cooking, sewing and learning an abundance of life lessons. For these young women, who have not had easy lives, they truly appreciate the fact that caring volunteers are there for them when most people are not. This is a success story – one that really highlights how local girls’ lives are being positively affected by Girl Scouts.