What: Inspiring Generations Celebration When: Sunday, Oct. 16 starting at 5 p.m. Where: Hershey Lodge, Hershey, Pa. What are the awards? »» Rising Star Award: honoring current Girl Scouts who are active, inspiring and have used their experience and training for good. »» Trailblazer Award: honoring Gold Award Recipients who have used their Girl Scout experiences as a stepping stone for their futures. »» Distinguished Leadership Award: honoring adult volunteers who have made a significant contribution of time, energy, or resources to Girl Scouts. »» Inspiring Generations Award: honoring individuals who have demonstrated lifelong and outstanding leadership qualities and have had an impact on promoting and building the Girl Scout movement. About Inspiring Generations Celebration Every day we are inspired by our Girl Scouts, volunteers, and people of all generations who help us build girls of courage, confidence and character and who make the world a better place. This year, as an ongoing tribute to the inspiring generations who built Girl Scouts into the nation’s preeminent leadership organization for girls, we will be hosting the 2016 Inspiring Generations Celebration. Proceeds from this event will support the overall mission of GSHPA and provide thousands of girls with opportunities to grow into tomorrow’s leaders and continue to inspire those around them.
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2016 Inspiring Generations Honorees
Rising Star Award: Honoring current Girl Scouts who are active, inspiring and have used their experience and training for good. Taylor Grochowski (right) Troop 32817 Wilkes-Barre-Luzerne County 13 years old; 8 years a Girl Scout A leader in both her Girl Scout troop and her community, Taylor Grochowski spends nearly every moment helping someone else in need. Whether it is a girl in her troop or a homeless shelter in need of clothing donations, Taylor is involved. She volunteers to help facilitate activities for younger Girl Scouts, teaching them about important topics like camp and water safety, as well as fun activities like crafts and dancing. Taylor has earned her Girl Scout Bronze Award, Leadership in Action (LiA) Award, five President’s Volunteer Service Awards, and many more. Taylor saw a need to provide a library in her school. To ensure her peers have access to books at school, she will be using her Silver Award project to create a free, portable library. Taylor is also active as a bus mentor, volunteer with her church’s Sunday School, and assists her Environmental Educator teacher with trail work. Needless to say, if there is a worthwhile cause out in her community, Taylor is there to help out and inspire others to join.
Lorelei McIntyre-Brewer (left) Juliette Girl Scout Duncannon-Perry County 11 years old; 5 years a Girl Scout In 2005, Lorelei was born missing half of her heart and endured over 20 surgeries, including three open heart procedures. Lorelei knows first-hand the struggle, pain and fear that children face while being hospitalized and decided to do something about it. At five years of age, Lorelei learned to sew in order to make compression heart pillows for pediatric heart patients, aiding in their recovery from surgery. She started her own organization, Heart Hugs, which has helped over 2,500 children worldwide. Utilizing the kindness of volunteers, Lorelei provides the compression pillows to hospitals, orphanages, and families at no cost. Her work has earned her the Bronze Award, Military Child of the Year by Operation Homefront, Dr. Oz’s Every Day Health Hero and recognition from the Points of Light Foundation. Lorelei is not only an inspiration to her peers and wider community, but to all the lives she has influenced across the globe.
2016 Inspiring Generations Honorees
Trailblazer Award: recognizes Girl Scouts who have earned the highest award in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award, as a stepping stone for a successful future.
Gwendolyn Little (right) Troop 11595 Mechanicsburg-Cumberland County 18 years old; 13 years a Girl Scout Gwendolyn Little never shied away from being the leading lady both on and off the stage. Her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Costume Shop Development, proves it. Gwen, a long time performer with the Gamut Theatre Group, saw the opportunity to make a difference when the theatre needed a new and improved space to grow the arts scene in downtown Harrisburg. Beyond her Gold Award, Gwen has a long Girl Scout history of taking charge to help others. She earned her Bronze and Silver Award, mentored younger Girl Scouts, and volunteered with a wide variety of nonprofits. During her time as a volunteer, Gwen never thought twice before stepping out as a leader and encouraging others to follow her. Gwen graduated Cumberland Valley High School in 2016 and currently attends Seton Hill University to pursue a degree in Musical Theatre. She aspires to continue her passion for the theater in a career on Broadway.
Felicia Wranitz (left) Troop 11595 Auburn-Schuylkill County 19 years old; 13 years a Girl Scout Felicia, a 2015 graduate of Nativity BVM High School, was determined to get children, age five and older, to set aside their electronic screens and get engaged in fun, handson, educational activities that they could easily do at home. She created her Gold Award project, Beating Boredom, in which she wrote a book outlining 50 learning activities. Felicia’s book has gained national attention and is utilized by schools, educators, families and libraries. In addition to her book, Felicia hosted workshops at elementary schools where children could craft and conduct experiments. Her passion for science can be found in the pages of her books and in her volunteer activities. As a sophomore at the University of Pittsburg, Felicia is working towards a double major in Biology and Anthropology and a minor in chemistry. She aspires to earn her Ph.D and pursue a career in genetic research. She gained a head start when she earned a position in a research lab where she is working to combat and reverse genetic infertility in women. Her ultimate goal is to work for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and participate in Doctors without Borders.
2016 Inspiring Generations Honorees
Distinguished Leadership Award: honors a volunteer who has made a significant contribution of time, energy, or resources in Girl Scouts. Dr. Kimberly Bolig Director, Regional STEM Education Center Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg-Columbia County Since the beginning of her employment with Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania as the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Magnet Program Director, Dr. Kimberly Bolig’s main focus is to spark high school student’s interest in the STEM fields, guiding them to the courses that will be most beneficial for their chosen career track. Of special interest to Dr. Bolig is the GI-STEM: Girls in Science event, which has occurred on campus of Bloomsburg University for the past two years and brought STEM education to over 300 girls. This popular event was created to encourage young girls to look at the world around them with inquisitive eyes, to become natural scientists, and to explore the fascinating world of the sciences. Girls move through a variety of hands-on stations such as: coding, biodiversity featuring live reptiles, cloud creations and more. Dr. Bolig connects the girls with inspiring and successful women working as professionals in STEM field careers to encourage girls to consider a future in the fields. Dr. Bolig believes that the opportunities in STEM field careers are only limited by a girl’s interest, imagination and desire. This event bolsters a girl’s interest in STEM disciplines by empowering her to pursue her dreams. Dr. Bolig saw her work unfold as girls gained confidence in mathematics problem solving skills, explored microscopic worlds, and engineered possibilities.
2016 Inspiring Generations Honorees
Inspiring Generations Award: honors those who have demonstrated lifelong and outstanding leadership qualities and has had an impact on promoting and building the Girl Scout Movement. Barbara Palmer (right) Barbara began her life-long journey with the Girl Scouts as a Girl Scout herself in the 1930s. After graduating from Iowa State University in 1946, she moved to State College in 1953 with her husband, James R. Palmer. In State College during the 1960s, she led her daughter’s troop and developed some of her favorite Girl Scouts memories – camping at Tussey Ridge and performing maintenance work at the camp with her family. Barbara was a founding member of the Hemlock Girl Scout Council which formed in 1963, combining 10 central Pennsylvania councils, representing all or part of 15 counties (including the Tussey Ridge Girl Scout Council of Centre County). As the Hemlock Council grew, she provided valued leadership as Vice President. Since then, Barbara has held various council positions and she remains committed to the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania. Barbara’s generosity to the Girl Scouts includes financial support of the former Camp Tussey Ridge, a naming gift for the Palmer Lodge at Camp Golden Pond, providing the lead gift in the Hemlock Councils 1986 Campaign and continues as a leadership donor in every major campaign since. She explains, “I consider the Girl Scout program invaluable to the growth and development of young girls and women. It gives them a sense of worth, confidence and broad experiences.”
Betsy Keefer (left) Betsy joined Girl Scouts in the third grade when there were limited opportunities for girls. As a girl, she found herself struggling in school, but Betsy discovered ways to be successful through Girl Scouting. With the help from inspiring Girl Scout leaders, whom she calls her mentors, she excelled both as a girl and an adult. Betsy utilized the leadership skills she learned as a Girl Scout as she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Hiram College in 1967 and her Master of Education degree from Kent State University in 1973. Betsy went on to serve the Girl Scouts in various leadership positions at seven different councils across the United States. Additionally, she held executive leadership positions with Girl Scouts of the USA in New York City.
Of all her work across the nation, her achievements for Girl Scouts in central and northeastern Pennsylvania were most remarkable. Betsy drove momentum behind the Girl Scout mission from leading a successful capital campaign to growing outreach programs. Despite her evolving role within the organization, her reason for being a part of the movement has remained the same. “It is an organization and a mission that I believe in very deeply,” said Betsy. “I’ve seen it over and over again effect girls in a positive way. Girl Scouts provides us a way to empower competent young women to become the leaders to move their communities forward.”