View The New 2008 Town Hall Meeting PowerPoint presented by Cathy Stackpole.

A world that doesn’t love its children is a suicidal species, according to Meg Wheatley, business consultant. In her talk to the CEO’s and Board Presidents of all of the Girl Scout Councils across the country in June of this year, she shared that in Rwanda, 30—35% of the people serving as elected officials are women. In the U.S., only 16% of our elected officials are women. What galvanized the women in Rwanda were the mass rapes and other violence that occurred in their country.

Wheatley and others believe that the key to change and “making the world bigger so that more of our greatness can show up” is relationships. She went on to say that “there is a bundle of potential that manifests only in relationships – we discover something new in ourselves every time we connect with another (some good, some you’d rather not talk about).”

Girl Scouts in Edmond have discovered just that. An idea to create a statue of a Girl Scout planting a tree for the state Centennial led them to fundraisers, asking the city of Edmond for funds, and building new relationships with community leaders, a sculptor and many others. Girls discovered the key roles learned through the leadership model: discover, connect, take action!  This Fall, they will dedicate the statue at Mitch Park.

(Girl Scout Lauryn Johnson, 9, washes a car window during a recent fundraiser for the Girl Scout statue in Mitch Park. Photo courtesy of The Oklahoman)

In another activity, a program at the Council to honor others has helped a young girl’s dream come true. Her mother said: “She couldn’t sleep for a week, she was so excited.”

 Funds to honor birthdays and other milestones made it possible for girls from the YWCA Domestic Violence Shelter to go to Red Rock this year for resident camp. For one young woman, it was the trip of a lifetime. She came back telling everyone how she was going to share her adventures when she got back to school.

Girl Scouts – Red Lands Council has had a commitment to girls in public housing for the last fifteen years. Our programs at six housing units in Oklahoma City continue to grow. This last year, the program at Oak Grove, with primarily Spanish speaking girls has grown to 110 individuals! We are continuing to look for people who speak Spanish who would like to work with the girls and their families. It is a chance of a lifetime!

By building relationships throughout our communities, Girl Scouts is making the world a better place and helping our communities find ways to express our love for its children! Join us!

PowerPoint On Building A Nimble Organization

PowerPoint On Building Membership

You may contact Cathy at executivedirector@redlandscouncil.org