GIRL SCOUTS FIGHTING BACK

For too long, Girl Scouts have been a banana republic, relying on successful cookie sale drives to provide needed revenue for its program.

Today, still reeling from the impact of the 2005 hurricane season, scout officials have come to a new realization: they need volunteers and financial backers to help put the storm-ravaged pieces back together.

Communication Director Marianne Burdette said the Girl Scout Council of Southeast Louisiana generates its funds through annual cookie sales. In 2005, those sales accounted for over $1.655 million of the council’s total revenue. The remainder of the $2 million-plus budget was generated from voluntary philosophical contributions, which allow businesses and individuals to donate money to the organization, she said.

Five local United Way organizations n representing nine parishes in Southeast Louisiana n also gave $145,534 in 2005.

Then the storms came, and everything changed.

Cookie sales now represent 70 percent of the regional Girl Scouts’ operating budget, a five percent post-Katrina hike, the communications director said. And with fewer people in the immediate New Orleans area, scout troops in the surrounding areas have had to pick up the slack in sales.

That’s the reasoning behind the broader approach to finding funding sources, Burdette explained.

“Girl Scout is always looking for donors and company sponsors to help fund girls scouting,” she said. “The goal of girl scouting is to have the program supported by adult-generated funds. We try to establish relationships with community organizations to take the burden off the girls.”

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed many New Orleans businesses. As company’s struggled to piece their organization back together, many were forced to withdraw sponsorships from community projects n including Girl Scouts.

“We went to several of our previous backers asking for sponsorship grants for specific programs. Some of the program funding was decline and some businesses renewed their pledge to the girl scouting organization,” said Robin Guillmette, assistant chief executive officer and director of membership and marketing for the Southeast Louisiana council.

To raise funds locally, the Southeast Louisiana Girl Scout program will host a Rhapsody in Green gala in June.

Girl Scouts and their families will be asked to participate in a voluntary campaign during which each family contributes at least $150 to support the program.

Unfortunately, Burdette said, cookie sales and annual funds aren’t the only decline the Southeast Louisiana council has experienced since the 2005 hurricanes. Troop membership is also down.

As many families relocated to other communities to rebuild their lives, area troops saw their numbers diminish, she said.

In the immediate days after Katrina, the council’s total numbers were way down, Girl Scout officials said.

Guillmette said membership is nearly two-thirds of its pre-Katrina level.

“One of the things that is holding us back is the lack of volunteers. There are a lot of girls in the Tri-parish area wanting to be in Girls Scouts, but we don’t have enough troop leaders and volunteers. Unless, you have the adult troop sponsor available you can’t offer girl scouting,” Burdette said.

Keep area girls involved

In the Tri-parish area, participation n not storms n continues to have the greatest impact on Girl Scout membership.

Finding the right combination of civic and personal programs to pique girls’ interest is vital.

“The program you offer has got to be fun it has to be something of value to them. One of the things that makes girl scouting unique n it’s a girl-centered program. As the girls get older, they’re suppose to direct as to what their troops wants to do,” said Thibodaux troop leader Linda LeRay.

“The girls come up with different ideas about what they want to do for the year. We have a variety of program they can participate in n it’s up to them what they want to do,” Burdette said.

As the girls get older, their outside extra-curricular activities expand, which can also compete with girl scouting. Burdette noted, however, some of outside activities actually compliment Girl Scouts.

Maintaining its membership, Thibodaux’s Senior Girls Scout Troop 367 participates in scouting and community service projects, as well as peer scouting projects.

“We provide learning experiences for the girls. It’s a matter of teaching them things and letting them experience what they want to do. At the senior level, they are in control of their group. The emphasis is on leadership training,” said LeRay.

And the opportunity to continue mentoring the younger generation is available after high school through the Studio 2B program. The program is designed to train adult scouts to become troop and camp leaders.

“It’s good to have positive role models who keep the girls focused and keep the interest level high. Senior Girl Scouts normally go on to be leaders in their collegiate organizations,” said LeRay.

Realigning for the future

Another major change, which Girl Scouts is undergoing nationally, is a realignment.

By the year’s end, Burdette said the organization’s 300 councils nationwide will be trimmed to 110.

Locally, the Southeast Louisiana council will merge with the Baton Rouge-based Girl Scouts Audubon Council, Inc., taking on a new name and new program design, she explained. The merger begins this month and will take nine to 10 months to complete.

Guillmette said the council’s goal is to be a high-performing, high-serving group, which could include 5,000 girls by 2009.

The program is in its embryo stage, she said. The council’s CEOs and board chairman recently participated in a program in New York to help smoothen the transition.

“Ultimately the program will be very good for the girls and the adults. The council in Baton Rouge has a lot of programs that will benefit the girls in the Southeast Louisiana council and vice versa,” Burdette said.

Photo courtesy of Thibodaux Girl Scouts * Local Thibodaux Girl Scouts prepare a meal for Habitat for Humanities volunteers as a community service project. Pictured are Savannah Ellis, Marion Todd, Genevieve Sayes, Natalie Daigle and Aubrey Ellis. Faced post-Katrina with falling numbers, budget troubles and a national realignment, the local scouting program is looking for ways to reinvent itself.