2013 Summer Camp Brochure for GSHH

In repeat of last year's request, I was asked to create and publish the 2013 Summer Camp brochure for Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson.

It is currently live and active online, and can be seen here: http://www.girlscoutshh.org/documents/?doc=231

Enjoy!

(And I hope everyone is well on their way to digging themselves out from Blizzard Nemo!)

Non Profit "Inspiration"

In November, I was asked to speak at a Christian Leadership Convention for college students (Thank-you Father LaMorte) on what "inspires me to work with non-profits". Here is that speech:

I guess you can say I kind of fell into my job.

In Fall of 2010 I was starting my senior year at Marist college, and like all of you are, or will shortly have to do, I signed up for a capping class. My major was Communications, with a dual-concentration in film and advertising, and I knew I wanted to select a project that would allow me to do both – and allow me to do so in a real world setting. I quickly came to realize that connecting with a non-for-profit was my best chance of getting my foot in the door and actually being able to make a difference.

After I realized this, it was easy for me to choose Girl Scouts as the organization I wanted to work for. As the preeminent organization for young women, it was something I could stand fully behind and pour my heart and soul into.  I grew up in Girl Scouts, earning all of the service and leadership bars, pins, and patches along the way (not that I could tell you what I did for all of them now), so I was already well-acquainted with the type of programming that Girl Scouting offered and the mission behind it.

Over that semester I grew as an individual – learning what it actually meant to be sent back to the drawing board 18 times, and not just because a professor told me to do so. I learned incredible amounts of patience and that non-profit usually equates to understaffed. I learned that Girl Scouting has taken leaps and bounds since my own high school graduation as they now tackle robotics, computer engineering, film, financial literacy, and women in government. Everything I learned only inspired me to work harder and portray them in the most positive light.

When my project ended, I was hesitant to leave GSHH behind, and I inquired about volunteer opportunities. Luckily for me, someone was retiring at the time and they offered me her Program Position part time until they could find someone else to hire. I began the job with a snowshoeing expedition in Holmes, NY, and immediately started taking on as many program events as possible. Long story short, by the end of my Spring Semester I was balancing thirty hour work weeks on top of classes, rugby, and the standard senior student social life. At times it was stressful and a tad overwhelming, but the satisfaction I was getting from my work outweighed any hardship.

I now work full time under the title “Program Manager” where I have the opportunity to teach girls anything from how to light a fire to how to apply for college. I have taken over the Silver and Gold Award program  - the two highest leadership awards Girl Scouts and earn – and have the great privilege of guiding these high-achieving middle and high schoolers from a rudimentary idea through a completed 80 hour project. Their success is my success, and their happiness is my happiness.

And for those of you who are wondering whatever happened to my degree in Communications, don’t worry, they give me ample opportunity to explore creativity through website design, print ads, flyers, program books, and the yearly camp brochure.

Girl Scouting prides itself on being an organization that builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. The organization, as a whole, celebrated their 100^thanniversary this past March and currently serves 2.3 million girl members. Our local council here in the Hudson Valley serves over 33,000 girls.

With such a large number of girls, and the afore-mentioned short staff that comes standard with non-profit, there is of course long hours.  I’ve worked days that started at 9am and didn’t end until 10pm. I’ve driven an hour and a half to meet for 15 minutes with one girl. I’ve worked overnight. I’ve worked Saturdays and Sundays. I’ve worked holidays. And all of it on a yearly salary that most of your parents would scoff at.

But it’s enough to pay the rent and the heat, and the ever-dreaded student loan.

So what gets me out of bed every morning? It’s the smiles, the stories of success, the tears of joy, the quick hugs, the muffled thank-you, the shouts of congratulations, the silent looks that fill you with pride and a sense of accomplishment – these make the long hours and the low pay worth every second. They keep you going.

Sometimes I feel like I need a second degree in psychology. These young women look up to you for so much guidance. They need advice on dating, school, their parents, their social lives, peer pressure, you name it, and every time I think “I am so the wrong person to answer this question” I find them looking at me with such open earnestness. These young girls actually value my opinion and input, and by finding a way to answer them that encourages them to think about their life, their future, and the possible outcomes without making decisions for them is truly rewarding.

Over the summer I had the privilege to work at one of our summer camps for two weeks. I was given nine 15 and 16 year old girls with the job of instilling the ideals of Friendship and Inner Beauty. At first, I was afraid they would find it boring or tedious, or, worse, juvenile. How was I supposed to make 9 high-school aged girls take me serious while talking about how pretty they were on the inside. But I planned for weeks and weeks and came ready for the worst, and despite their initial resistance, I  eventually got them on board with my plan. After a week of lessons and discussions and idea-sharing they were asked to come up with a Take Action Project to share what they had learned with the rest of the camp.

And they decided to flaunt their flaws.

Show them off to the entire camp.

Show everyone that they could take ownership of their biggest insecurities.

And still be beautiful.

They created t-shirts, which sported in huge letters their biggest self-proclaimed flaw.  “Thunder thighs” “no boobs” “living under a shadow” “ADHD” “fat”.

On the back they wrote “but I’m beautiful”.

They then hung posters around camp aimed at younger girls to give them messages about self-esteem, ideas of beauty around the world, and how peer pressure to be perfect only makes everyone unhappy.

The encouraged everyone to admit their own biggest flaw and write it down and proclaim themselves beautiful in spite of it. The declarations were hung in a public area and later turned into a video.

In the end, they spoke to over 120 campers and 40 staff. They inspired a people, and they sparked a movement. The project was talked about for weeks after the fact by campers, staff, family and friends. The video had over 200 views on Youtube and was borrowed by a local battered women and children’s shelter to share the positive outlook on life.

I’ve always said that one of my main goals in life is to make a true difference in else’s. This job allows for that to happen.

This project was just 9 girls. With 10 days.

Imagine what I can do with 33,000 girls and a lifetime.

A Response to David Crary's Article entitled "Girl Scouts Under Scrutiny from Catholic Bishops"

Before I begin, I would like to say that I deeply respect David Creery and appreciate this article in that it was written without bais and clearly explained the sides of both parties involved.

As many may know, I am a ataunch Catholic, and have been a Girl Scout since I was ten, so articles such as this hold an interest for me and often cause me to look back at my Girl Scout career. I think at first it surprised to find that Girl Scouting was under question / under fire at all because I never, not even once, was exposed to anything that countered the beliefs of my faith or my practices. My troop, which was comprised on girls of multiple faiths, but all Christian, learned and grew together and never once touched any socially hot topics.

I firmly believe that Girl Scouting helped me grow up to be a strong, independent and morally-centered young woman.

Thinking about it, I have to say it makes sense to me that so many of our top Girl Scout supporters are liberal, and gay, and left wing feminists. This is because Girl Scouting accepted them.

Girl Scouting accepts everyone equally, yes, but most young girls feel accepted immediately by their church groups, sporting teams, peer groups, etc. Those girls that don't only have Girl Scouts. Those girls become extremely passionate about and dedicated to Girl Scouting because it lets them be themselves without shame. they grow up to be strong, courageous, outspoken, successful women who want nothing more than to give back to the one and only organization who told them they could do anything.

You take a upper class, straight, white girl from the suburbs who becomes successful, and she can thank her sports team, her church, her family, her community service club, NHS, and, yes Girl Scouting. It's not the same PR. It's not the same story. And it's not the same level of passion.

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David Crary can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

The Camp Director of Rocky Brook Day camp asked me to make a short for-youtube-only video to advertise her day camp. With only about 20 pictures to choose from and limited working time, this was the result: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzKQvsP6_iY Music is "Year of the Girl" from GSUSA.

haikus

Doors
unpredictable
what if somebody answers?
what if no one does?

Life
there are no set rules
it's okay to get messy
perfect is boring

Death
no it's not the end
to find your place in the sky
it's the beginning

Five
We grow old so fast
losing faith, sparkle, wonder
I liked being five...

Camp Brochure 2012

Created this year's summer camp brochure for Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson: http://www.girlscoutshh.org/documents/?doc=40

Actually, there were two versions because the one that went to print had a slightly different color scheme.

It was a long and tedious process, but it was completed 3 days ahead of schedule.

logo for the website. now. go.

"Hello superstar I have a big request for you that I need you start the second I get off the phone"

Well, that's an exciting way to start a conversation with your boss.  Less than 2 minutes later it was clear that she wanted me to create what she was calling a "logo" to use as a hyperlink to the programs portion of the GSHH website.

This is what resulted.

 

It's only impressive in that it took less than 15 minutes, and yet somehow gets across what GSHH offers. At least, I like to think that it does.

After a very quick edit, it went live. You can see it on the top righthand side of our homepage: http://girlscoutshh.org/