Girl Scouts celebrating 100th birthday

Information submitted

LIMA — Girl Scouts of Western Ohio joins Girl Scouts around the nation to make the world a better place and celebrate Girl Scout Week, March 11-17. The week honors the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting in the United States, which falls on March 12 — the day in 1912 that 18 girls met for their first meeting with Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low.

Helping girls to discover their strengths through impacting their communities was what Juliette Gordon Low instilled from the earliest days. In 1912, many girls’ paths in life were limited by their social standing. Low encouraged girls to prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for future roles as professional women in the arts, sciences, and business, and for active citizenship. Today, Girl Scouts travel the world, learn 21st century business skills and prepare for a high-tech future.

We believe that one girl can make a difference and that girls together can change the world. The Girl Scout experience gives young women the confidence and the tools to lead, so they will make a difference in the world. We help girls discover who they can be and what they can do, wherever they choose to put their energies. To discover what girls can do, Girl Scouts gives girls participation opportunities as varied as the world–so different leadership roles can be “tried on” and girls can grow into the ones that best fit.

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) — the national Girl Scout organization — is celebrating its centennial, and using this unique moment in its history to declare 2012 the Year of the Girl and launch the ToGetHerThere campaign — the boldest cause campaign dedicated to girls’ leadership issues in the nation’s history. As GSUSA and local Girl Scout councils across the country, including Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, launch this cause, we are urging all members of society to help girls achieve their full leadership potential.

Girl Scouts will use the occasion of its 100th birthday to incite a monumental shift in the way we support girls in this country and seek to get the issue of girls’ leadership on the national agenda. The cause —

ToGetHerThere — will help break down societal barriers that hinder girls from leading and achieving the highest ranks in all fields and industries, from science and technology to business and government.

To provide this support, we must start with all girls now — not just girls involved with Girl Scouting — and ask all adults to help girls achieve their full potential, in any way they can.

Barbara J. Bonifas, CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, says, “The time is right for this imitative. It is imperative that girls have more opportunities to learn how to lead. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience provides this opportunity and others — both individuals and organizations — can provide resources, coaching assistance to girls in support of the ToGetHerThere campaign.”