This wonderful
organization for girls was founded in 1912 by Juliet ‘Daisy’ Gordon Low in
Savannah, Georgia. Ms. Low believed that all girls should be given the
opportunity to develop physically, mentally and spiritually, and to experience
community service. She originally started with 18 girls and today the
organization has close to 3.4 million members. It wasn’t until 1919 that the executive
board inaugurated a fund raising plan to relieve Ms. Low of the financial
obligation she incurred for the organization. From the beginning she had paid
for all expenses by selling her extremely valuable necklace of rare and matched
pearls.
During the First World War,
the girls learned about food production, conservation, sold war bonds, worked
in hospitals and collected peach pits for use in gas mask filters. In the
1940s, during the Second World War, they collected 1.5 million articles of
clothing that were then shipped to children and adult victims of the war.
Girl Scouts have been changing the world for 100
years.
In addition, who can forget those wonderful Girl Scout
cookies. It all began in 1917 when
the girls baked cookies and sold them in the high school cafeteria as a service
project.
I was never a Girl Scout,
but my blog partner, daughter, and best friend, Jan Shoop, was a scout for many
years and I did serve as her scout leader in the 1960s. I wish the girls at
StarShine could follow in her footsteps.
By Lois Jamieson
If you enjoyed these fun
and inspiring facts, you’ll want to read:
