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Living the Girl Scout Mission—to build girls of courage, confidence and character to make the world a better place...

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Operation Book Drop - Discover! Lead! Take Action!
 
Girl Scouts throughout the Catawba Valley Area are encouraged to discover, lead and take action in 2008 as they focus on girl leadership. Research has shown that the more girls discover, the more they want to share what they have learned with others. Leadership skills, such as planning and goal-setting, enable girls to take action and use their discoveries to make the world a better place.

In Alexander County, adult volunteers strive to instill commitment, leadership and action through community service projects. A fine example of these traits are illustrated in a recent service unit community outreach project.

Operation Book Drop started as a small community service project designed to promote literacy in the youth of Alexander County and to teach local Girl Scouts about reaching out to others in need or those less fortunate.

The girls set a modest goal to collect 500 books. However, through the work of the girls, as well as their leaders and their parents, they surpassed their goal by 600%.  Alexander County Girl Scouts collected more than 3,000 new and gently used books for non-profit organizations that work directly with the children of Alexander County. These non-profit organizations include Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina, Christian Crisis Center, the Domestic Violence Resource Center of Alexander County and several others.

This project has also paved the way for future projects in Alexander County, where troop leaders and Girl Scouts will be able to work hand in hand with some of these non-profit organizations. These future projects include parenting and creative play sessions for teenage mothers, crafting activities, life skills training sessions and many more!

Along with Operation Book Drop, Alexander County Girl Scouts also organized a canned food drive with all supplies donated to a local food pantry and non-profits serving children.

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. The Girl Scout Council of the Catawba Valley Area is pleased and proud to make Alexander County a better place to live. . . one project at a time.

Beautification Project at the East Alexander Middle School in 2006

Living the Girl Scout Mission—to build girls of courage, confidence and character to make the world a better place—the Alexander County Girl Scout STUDIO 2B group completed a beautification project at the East Alexander Middle School in 2006. The girls, wanting to do something to give back to the school they love so much, decided to try their hands at landscaping with much success!

In total, the girls planted fifteen flowers in the empty beds around the two entrance signs of the middle school, after weeding the area and laying down new soil. The girls then added new mulch. As the finishing touch, they brought in new landscaping rocks to protect against soil erosion.

Last summer, two Alexander Girl Scouts participated in a Linking Girls to the Land. They traveled with other girls from the Foothills to the Cradle of Forestry at the Pisgah National Forest to explore land and water resources through hands-on environmental education and stewardship activities. As a final project, Girl Scouts completed a service project to benefit the Cradle of Forestry and cleaned up invasive species by removing bittersweet and kudzu.

At the start of the trip, the girls’ expectations were high as they were nervous stepping outside their zone to camp outdoors, make new friends and essentially gain the confidence to do this.

As a result, the trip was a success with new friendships and a better understanding of invasive species in North Carolina.

Did you know these important facts about Girl Scouts of the USA?

• The mission of Girl Scouts of the USA is Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.
• The Girl Scout approach to leadership is based on the three principles—Discover, Connect, and Take Action.
• As a Girl Scout discovers her world, she develops a strong sense of self, gains practical and healthy life skills, and strengthens her values.
• As a Girl Scout connects with others in a global community, she forms caring relationships, promotes cooperation and team building, and embraces diversity.
• As a Girl Scout takes action in the world, she feels empowered to make a difference, identifies and solves problems she cares about, and advocates for herself and others.
• Girl Scouts has a long-standing tradition of change. Since 1912, Girl Scouting has risen to the challenge of meeting the unique needs of each generation of girls.
• United Way funds have supported troop leader handbooks and leader guides, training for all adult volunteers, program activities for girls such as rock climbing, financial assistance for girl membership, and various other program events and materials.
• United Way funds subsidize first aid and CPR Training for adult volunteers, as well as summer camp to make camp more affordable for girls to attend summer resident camp.
• Locally, Alexander Girl Scouts have participated in blood drives, Spring Fling, the Christmas parade, and various flag ceremonies.
• United Way funds provide girls and adults with an opportunity to attend Camp Ginger Cascades, the award-winning camp located only minutes from Alexander County in Lenoir.  At Camp Ginger Cascades, girls learn to work as a team, share chore responsibilities, make friends and gain an appreciation for the natural world under the supervision of committed, dedicated staff members.