A movement that began with one girl’s belief that all females should be given equal opportunity to develop physically, mentally and spiritually celebrated its 100th anniversary this week.
When Juliette Gordon Low started the Girl Scouts on March 12, 1912, she could have never predicted the organization would stretch a century and gain 50 million alumnae.
“Girl Scouts is about building girl leaders,” said Marianne Addy, vice president of communications and development at the Girl Scouts Louisiana East. “For 100 years we’ve been a leadership development program for girls.”
Girl Scout Week began with Girl Scout Sunday on March 11 and ends with the Girl Scout Sabbath on March 17, which recognizes that the motivating force in Girl Scouting is a spiritual one.
An array of events are scheduled for the week.
Alumnae, volunteers and supporters of Girl Scouting will celebrate council’s annual spring fundraising luncheon, which will have a birthday feel, on Thursday at the Lod Cook Alumni Center, Addy said.
Girls and their families across the 23 parishes will celebrate 100 years of scouting on Saturday at the Centennial Extravaganza at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. The celebration will include activities, demonstrations, carnival rides and an interactive historic exhibit.
Participants from the extravaganza will hold an item drive to benefit Children’s Hospital in New Orleans and Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.
Addy said families with children are encouraged to attend and get involved with the Girl Scouts.
Addy’s daughters were involved in the organization before she joined the staff after searching for activities that would enrich and teach her children. The Girl Scouts seemed like a value-based program that would benefit her daughters, she said.
The Scouts strive to teach civic-mindedness, and most troop activities have a community-service component, Addy said.
Girl Scouts learn skills that give them the ability to participate in community activities, Addy said.
“Ultimately, our goal is to build girl leaders that will take it upon themselves to do something for their community,” she said.
The Kappa Delta sorority on campus is doing just that. The sorority partners with the Girl Scouts as part of Kappa Delta’s Confidence Coalition, a program created to inspire confidence in young women, said Kelsey Raeuchle, the chapter’s vice president of community service.
The sorority held an event called “Tag Along With Kappa Delta” on March 7, when a high school Girl Scout troop sold Do-Si-Dos, Thin Mints, Tagalongs and other cookies for which the Girl Scouts are known.
Raeuchle said the troop sold more than 700 boxes of cookies – the most in five years.
When Girl Scouts began, the troops baked their own cookies and sold them to fund projects, Addy said. They eventually hired a licensed baker to bake the cookies, and the treats remain a source of major monetary funding for the organization.
The Louisiana Girl Scouts chapter sold 1.1 million boxes of cookies in 2011 and anticipate to match or better that number in 2012, Addy said.
Raeuchle said working with the Girl Scouts and possibly changing a girl’s life is one of the most rewarding aspects of being in Kappa Delta.
Addy said the Girl Scouts’ founder aimed to involve girls in more outdoor activities and new experiences. The same goals still exist, but as technology changes, so does the organization.
Today, girls earn badges for designing websites or creating videos, she said.
Though technology and the organization have evolved, the Girl Scouts has been able to maintain its purpose for 100 years, Addy said.
“A lot of things come and go, but the Girl Scouts has withstood the test of time,” Addy said.
Addy believes the Girl Scouts will continue to grow as it moves into its second century. The group has deemed 2012 as the “year of the girl.”
 
____ Contact Ferris McDaniel at [email protected]