Girl Scouts to train volunteers

Girl Scouts—Dakota Horizons is creating a Girl Scout camp volunteer delivery program to reignite camping experiences for today’s Scouts. Through a $150,000 grant from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, Girl Scouts will create a new training platform for volunteers which will bring camp opportunities into the communities served by the council.

Girl Scouts—Dakota Horizons and the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation want to engage more girls through camp experiences focusing on the environment and connecting them with the outdoors.

The two-year pilot phase of the program will train 40 volunteers from communities across the council. Volunteer training will take place at the Tom and Danielle Aman Foundation Girl Scout camp outside of Aberdeen, S.D., on Richmond Lake. The current camp facility will undergo major technology upgrades to help deliver the training module to volunteers, Girl Scouts said.

Nationally, Girl Scouts of the USA is embracing volunteer-led program opportunities for members.

“Volunteers are the best source for reaching girls in areas that may not otherwise have Girl Scout camps available,” said Tami Haug-Davis, CEO of Girl Scouts. “Girl Scouts is about building tomorrow’s leaders, and camp has always played an important role for girls to gain essential skills that will last a lifetime.”

Girl Scouts—Dakota Horizons serves an area that spans four states.

“The program module will focus on training new adult volunteers who can take camp programs to girls throughout the council,” Haug-Davis said.

The first group of volunteers will be ready to provide these camp programs for more girls in the summer of 2013.

Tags: community, clubs