Girl Scouting has been part of the fabric of life in the United States for 82 years. While it is true there are many institutions in the United States devoted to the well-being of young people, only a very few focus solely on girls.
That singular focus is what makes Girl Scouting unique and so important. Girl Scouting doesn't pretend to be the only experience of benefit to girls. Rather, Girl Scouting recognizes that, for the over 2.5 million girls members, the chance to learn, make friends, have fun, explore new ideas takes on a fresh meaning when it occurs in an all-girl setting.
More than 800,000 adults volunteer time, energy, and effort to Girl Scouting. They are women and men who recognize the immediate value to families--and the long-term payoff for the nation--in providing an enriching experience created just for girls and for girls only.
Girl Scouting could not exist without the cooperation and support of countless communities all over the United States. Girl Scout ties run deep, uniting current and former Girl Scouts, their families, their jobs, their community institutions. Those connections keep Girl Scouting alive and allow it to flourish. And the community of Girl Scouting grows wider daily: Girls whose families have a long association with Girl Scouting who rediscover the harmony between contemporary Girl Scouting and the complicated demands of twentieth-century lifestyles. Girls who are the first in their family's history to become Girl Scouts. Immigrants who find in Girl Scouting a way to ease a daughter's transition into life in the United States.
The motivating force of Girl Scouting is a spiritual one and that spirit is embodied in the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Every Girl Scout--girl or adult--promises to serve God and country, to help people, to live by the Girl Scout Law. Together, the Promise and Law comprise a foundation of values that parents find compatible with their own beliefs about honesty, fairness, and respect.
Girl Scouting's aim is to continue, in the years ahead, to offer girls an experience that is as special, as singular, as vital as this nation they inhabit. 12/27/94 |
