Chartered by Girl Scouts USA, Girl Scouts of Suffolk County provides similar experiences to each of the other 110 Girl Scouting councils around the country.
“There’s a thread that runs through it from our council to each of our sister councils,” say Tammy Severino, president and CEO of the Commack-based organization. “But there is a certain uniqueness to each one because the ones that are located in more rural or more city environments have a different experience than we do as a fully suburban area.”
In sparsely populated rural areas, for example, Girl Scouting councils cover a much wider area.
“For us, our areas are our service units, and each one is a different school district,” Severino says.
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County currently has about 10,000 Girl Scouts signed up this year, but Severino predicts that the roster will grow to about 15,000. An additional 3,000 volunteers, including board members, troop leaders, and service unit people, will be integral to the operation.
“We are one of the fastest growing councils by membership in the country,” says Severino, adding that they’re taking a hard look at their programming for girls throughout the county and how they can enhance the scouting experience.
Meeting scouts where they are
When most people think of scouting, they think of troops.
And, while Girl Scouts of Suffolk County has thousands of girls in troops, that model may not be feasible for girls in underserved communities, where their parents don’t necessarily have the bandwidth to take on the role of troop leaders.
“In those communities, we are going into the schools and we provide a school-based program where we’re in the school pretty much every week on the same day of the week from about October through May, and girls are getting their Girl Scouting experience that way,” Severino says.
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County provides facilitators to serve scouts at the schools.
“So, the girls in those schools are seeing a consistent adult who is someone that they can look up to and aspire to in their community,” Severino says.
To date, Girl Scouts of Suffolk has 53 school-based scouting programs within 24 school districts.
“Our school-based girls are oftentimes in our most economically disadvantaged communities in the county and for that reason we have more girls in need of scholarships to be a Girl Scout than in any other part of their community,” says Severino, noting that they help them with any costs associated with scouting, from uniforms, to sashes, badges and membership fees. “That’s all underwritten through private support through our council.”
The organization also provides Girl Scouting in 7 shelters within Suffolk County.
“We’ve been in the shelters for a long time and it helps provide girls with that sense of stability at a time that may be more challenging for their families,” Severino says.
In these scenarios, they bring the scouting to the girls — where they are.
“The girls are often so excited about being Girl Scouts and it’s helping to lift them and to see all of the possibilities that their future may hold,” Severino says.
Four pillars of Girl Scouting
Starting as Daisies in kindergarten and first grade and rising to Ambassadors in 11th and 12 grades, Girl Scouts provides a sense of sisterhood that develops in girls who are learning and laughing together as they help serve their communities.
“They develop deep friendships that can last a lifetime,” says Severino, who notes that she is still in touch with almost all the scouts from her scouting days in Brooklyn.
There are four pillars of Girl Scouting, the first of which involves the outdoors, camping and hiking: understanding and appreciating the environment around them.
Entrepreneurship, the second pillar, is developed through the product program, in which the Girl Scouts market cookies, chocolates, nuts, candies, magazines, and dogs treats and toys.
“Those skills are skills you need if you ever want to open your own business,” Severino says. “So, we’re excited that girls learn about customer service, money management, inventory: all those types of things.”
The third pillar is STEAM – STEM + the Arts — where the girls learn about robotics, financial literacy, technology, research, marine biology, and the arts, where they can develop an interest and gain knowledge in areas they may pursue in their careers.
The final pillar is life skills – everything from true life skills to mental and physical health and wellness – to enable them to become independent adults.
Special events for the girl scouts
The organization will host its annual Girl Scouts of Suffolk County’s Holiday Light Show at the Enchanted Forest at Camp Edey in Bayport on Friday and Saturday nights through Dec. 21, which is also a big fundraiser for the organization. Each year, they chose 5 images created by the scouts to be built into displays that are included in the light show.
“It is truly magical to walk through,” Severino says. “You see the look of wonder on a small child’s face or, quite frankly, someone who’s a child at heart and you know that’s the purpose of the show: to just be surrounded by nature and beauty and lights and what is a magical time of year.”
The holiday light show also includes photos with Santa, food trucks and a shop with holiday gifts.
“The funds that are raised through the holiday show are fed back into providing fantastic programs for all of our girls and scholarships for our girls who need help to be able to be a Girl Scout,” Severino says.
Camp Edey is also the site each summer for day and residential camp for hundreds of girls from the region who enjoy an unplugged camp experience with new and lasting friends.
On March 7, the organization will host its “Making An Impact” breakfast, with a panel of accomplished women who will discuss pertinent issues of our time, at Stonebridge Country Club in Smithtown.
A lifetime of lifting community
A key aspect of Girl Scouting involves instilling the importance of making the world a better place through community service, notes Severino.
“Our girls from very, very young are learning about giving back,” she says. “They do it as a group when they are little and as they mature, many of our girls go for our highest awards which are the bronze, then the silver and then the gold.”
To earn these awards, Girl Scouts must tackle issues in the community that truly matter to them. The gold award – a solo project for a high school scout — requires a minimum of 80 hours to develop the project.
“It has to be something that will live beyond her handing it over to the community,” Severino says.
Community service goes way beyond the Girl Scouting years: Many of the 50 million Girl Scout alumni in the U.S. are more inclined than almost any other demographic to continue to be deeply involved in the communities in which they settle, notes Severino.
“They’re not just kids doing important things,” Severino says. “They become members of a community that consistently and thoroughly give back and make all of our communities better places.”
For more information on Girl Scouts of Suffolk County or to donate go to gssc.us
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