There’s more to Girl Scouts than just delicious cookies—a $700-million market—and they hope the public will know this after they finish launching a nationwide re-branding campaign called What Did You Do Today.
Part of the transformation will be appealing more to the Hispanic population, one of the fastest growing demographics, by advertisements in Spanish language markets, ranging from Telemundo to People en español.
Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts USA, said in a statement that approximately “one out of 10 girls participate in Girl Scouting. That’s tremendous when you think about it. But that also means that we have a great opportunity to grow after 100 years.”
Cloninger has already enacted major changes: she has resized the federation of Girl Scout councils from 312 to 112, which allows them to operate with bigger budgets. The realignment has been imposed to compensate for a change in demographics and a loss in enrollment.
And for local leader Joan Sea, these changes create more benefits than just a larger budget.
“The [Central Coast] council ranges from Castroville all the way south to Ventura,” Sea said. “It opens up things for us. We can have activities in Morro Bay, or go to Ventura, and we have access to whatever is going on.”
Girl Scouts is also making changes in the program that founder Juliette Gordon Low could never have imagined, including lessons on subjects such as computers, texting, bullying, and other current issues.
“You need to do something with modern technology in order to get a badge, and girls can also check and see what other troops are doing across the nation,” said Sea, who has been a part of Girl Scouts for nearly all of her life. “It’s an exciting time for Girl Scouts. There are a lot more opportunities; they can go around the world through technology: it’s opened up a huge world for them.”
Intern Henry Houston compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or
ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 12-19, 2010.
