30 Mar Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri Recently Received $5,000 Grant From the St. Joseph South Side Progressive Association

Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri recently received a grant for $5,000 from the St. Joseph South Side Progressive Association to expand Girl Scouts membership and adult volunteer participation in Title One schools in St. Joseph, Missouri.

In this project, girls at five St. Joseph schools will be offered membership waivers for entering Girl Scouts. Girls will also receive subsidies for troop fees, uniforms, books and other learning materials. Funds will also support a full-time volunteer coordinator (Manager, Volunteer Training and Support) to guide and support adult volunteers in order to grow the volunteer base in the community. As Girl Scout troops form at the schools, the initiative’s goal will be to increase membership each year, as well as to retain current scouts.

Studies by the Girl Scout Research Institute and an independent research firm concluded women who were Girl Scouts display positive life outcomes to a greater degree than women who were not Girl Scouts. These outcomes are sense of self, community service, civic engagement, education, and income. This is the case for all Girl Scout alumnae, across ages/generations, social classes, races, and engagement in other extracurricular activities (GSRI, 2012).  Thus, the benefit of growing Girl Scout membership has short- and long-term positive benefits for Girl Scouts, the community, and society as a whole.

Girl Scouts is the nation’s premier girl-serving organization focused on building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Founded in 1923, Girl Scouts of NE Kansas & NW Missouri (GSKSMO) is chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA and successfully serves girls in Kindergarten through the 12th grade, from all racial, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic populations. Currently, approximately 30,000 girl members across a 47-county area are served by 9,000 adult volunteers. One in eight girls ages 5-17 living within council boundaries are Girl Scouts, exceeding the national average of one in every twelve girls. Girl Scouts offers a critical research-based youth development curriculum engaging girls in three key areas of leadership: discovering themselves, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place.