A Century of Leadership In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low had the vision to create Girl Scouts, the nation’s premier leadership organization for girls. One hundred years later we are celebrating a century of leadership as we declare 2012 the Year of the Girl.
Dear Friends of GSSEF, In 1912, when our founder, Juliette Gordon Low, declared Girl Scouts “something for the girls of America and all over the world,” she meant it. And though extreme adversity and oppression would be the rule of law for many years to come, “something for everyone” has been at the heart of Girl Scouting from day one. Looking back, our first troop for African American girls was formed in 1917, 47 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, and by the 1950s, GSUSA began a national effort to desegregate all Girl Scout troops. Not long after, in 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. described Girl Scouts as “a force for desegregation.” Perhaps Juliette couldn’t have imagined how things might change over the next hundred years, but she knew something about leadership and how important it would be for our girls. She encouraged girls to prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for possible future roles as professional women—in the arts, sciences and business—and for active citizenship outside the home. The way we serve girls today may look a little different than it did in 1912, but the ideals behind Juliette’s vision haven’t changed. Our mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place has never been more relevant than it is today. And as we celebrate our first hundred years, we remain steadfast in our efforts to ensure that every girl has the opportunity to be the leader she wants to be, and that the world needs her to be. Our Anniversary year was a good one for Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. We served 15,620 girls, an increase of 5 percent over the prior year. This would not have been possible without the unyielding commitment of more than 6,100 adult volunteers, who work in partnership with our girls to help them get the most out of their Girl Scout experience. Girl Scout community service projects and mega programs continue to be a hit with local Girl Scouts. Sixteen hundred Girl Scouts participated in our annual Baby Basics project and 930 took part in our environmental “Forever Green” project in honor of our 100th Anniversary. Twenty-four Girl Scouts earned their Gold Award, and 47 earned the Silver Award. Mega programs such as Camp Creepy, Movie Mania, Mall Madness and My Chick’n Me attracted almost 5,700 participants. The annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale Program is an integral part of our commitment to financial literacy programming for girls. Our Cookies for the Military program grew 20 percent, with more than 35,500 boxes collected for our brave women and men serving both domestically and overseas. To date, more than 116,000 boxes have been donated. We kicked off our 100th Anniversary with several fantastic events. We honored six women at our 100th Anniversary kick-off on Palm Beach, and five others at our Indian River County Women of Distinction event. We launched our Because I Was a Girl Scout campaign, gathering stories of leadership from alumnae around our Council and beyond. We also introduced the Thin Mint Sprint, a 5k race to help promote our healthy living initiatives, welcoming nearly 130 runners. Here’s to the next 100 Years!
Henrietta Gurri McBee Board Chair
Denise W. Valz Chief Executive Officer
CHAIR Henrietta Gurri McBee 1st VICE CHAIR Aimee G. Cernicharo 2nd VICE CHAIR Lorna E. Brown-Burton SECRETARY Tina Hatcher TREASURER Virginia Spencer MEMBERS AT LARGE Janet Beets Dr. Stephanie Brown Tracy Carroll Tami Donnally Ashley Foster Pinnock Christopher Herron Julie Kreafle Catherine Lambert James Mueller Nancy Proffitt Sheila Ravindran Sheila Schwartz MaryAnn Stetson Dr. Jean A. Wihbey GIRL MEMBERS Julia Joy McBee Brittney Torres
Membership It is the goal of Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida to always offer continuous, innovative girl recruitment campaigns to increase membership. Whether it’s engaging new five year olds in VPK programs, a summer luau at the water park in Coral Springs or movies in the park in Martin County, we want to show girls how easy and fun it is to be a Girl Scout. The results of our hard work speak for themselves. GSSEF achieved a 5 percent increase in girl members in 2012, for a total of 15,620 girls. The newly implemented Membership, Volunteerism and Program (MVP) structure, in July 2011, supported advancements in recruitment through the addition of Area-level leadership volunteers. This level of reinforced support helped strengthen Service Units and allowed Council staff to work in some under-served communities with great potential to promote and achieve membership extension, including Delray Beach, Pahokee, Boynton Beach, North Lauderdale, Riviera Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington. Through the staff and volunteer recruitment and re-registration efforts – as well as the addition of new technology and information systems – GSSEF ended the fiscal year at 96% of the annual girl registration goal on September 30, 2012.
Special Shout Out! Sandy Beaches Service Unit from Pompano Beach in Area 3 reached new heights with lots of NEW girls! In 2011-12 Sandy Beaches increased girl membership by 61 percent from the 2010-2011 year by registering 337 girls. This exceeded their goal by 82 girls. Building on their momentum, Sandy Beaches has already exceeded the 2012-2013 goal too!
Early Bird Re-Registration Goes Online! April 15, 2012 marked the launch of Online Early Bird Re-Registration for all 40 GSSEF Service Units. This technology allows troop leaders to re-register girls and adults in a few easy to follow steps – all online and in one transaction! It also gave leaders the ability to view their troop roster throughout the year, send emails to parents to keep them updated on troop activities, and update contact information as needed. A total of 5,904 girls participated in Online Early Bird Re-Registration, an 8 percent increase from the previous year and 3,072 adults participated in Online Early Bird Re-Registration, a 6.5 percent increase from the previous year.
15,620 — Girls Served 6,100 — Registered Adults 24 — Girls earning their Gold Award 47 — Girls earning their Silver Award 3,225 — Number of boxes sold by the 2012 Top Seller 46 — Girls who are repeat members of the Extreme Team $1,094,721 — Troop proceeds from the 2012 Cookie Sale Program 129 — Runners who participated in the inaugural Thin Mint Sprint 5K 35,551 — Number of boxes donated to Cookies for the Military program 99 — Girls who joined the Extreme Team for selling 1,000+ boxes of cookies
Volunteerism We know Girl Scouting changes the lives of girls, and we know it wouldn’t be possible without our adult volunteers! We’re committed to providing adult volunteers with the resources they need to ensure the best possible experience for our girls. We get there by training adults on everything from the basics to the fun stuff, offering guidance through conflict resolution and celebrating the best among us. In the end we provide our volunteers with the courage, confidence and character to inspire girls to make the world a better place. Although our volunteers don’t do it for the accolades or recognition, we love to provide a little of both each year. We were proud to formally recognize and celebrate the efforts of 148 of our volunteers and community partners, including 35 Appreciation, 3 Family and 10 Honor Award recipients, at our Annual Meeting and Recognition Ceremony on March 24, 2012. We listened when it came to adult learning! Based on feedback we received from our volunteers, we revamped the Troop Essentials class, making it more focused and interactive. Troop Essentials offers specific information on how to set-up a troop, from deciding when, where and how often to meet and how-tos on managing troop finances, to working with parents and planning engaging troop activities. We also addressed the need of making everyone more familiar with policies and procedures, Council structure and operations, and risk management by creating a new class, Volunteer Essentials. This new class sets the scene for safety for everyone in our Council. Both Troop Essentials and Volunteer Essentials classes are now required basic training for all new leaders.
Girls Leading the Way for 100 Years For 100 years, Girl Scout programs have offered great opportunities for girls to make new friends, learn new skills and simply have fun with other Girl Scouts. As we celebrated the Year of the Girl, we provided innovative, community-minded, educational and creative ways girls could discover, connect and take action to make the world a better place.
“Healthy Girls” Partnership with Baptist Health South Florida GSSEF is excited to announce our newest program partnership with South Florida’s health care leaders, Baptist Health South Florida. Together, the teams at GSSEF and Baptist Health delivered new, interactive programs for Juniors and Cadettes at their Baptist Medical Plazas in Pembroke Pines, Davie and Coral Springs. Led by Baptist Health professionals, these courses offered a dynamic balance of classroom learning and hands-on activities: “Junior First Aid” for Juniors (Grades 4-5) and “Ready, Set, Baby Sit!” for Cadettes (Grades 6-8) formerly known as “Babysitter Boot Camp.”
Feeding Florida Together Food Drive Did you know that 1 in 5 children in the United States—nearly 17 million—don’t get enough food to live active, healthy lives? In April 2012, local Girl Scouts did their part to help local children and families that experience food insecurity on a regular basis during our 4th Annual Feeding Florida Together Food Drive. By creating collection boxes and purchasing food items with their troop treasuries, Girl Scouts collected 12,184 pounds of non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army. This is just one way Girl Scouts are taking action to help those in need in our community.
My Chick’n Me Mother’s Day meant Girl Scout “farm fun” for girls and their moms at the 1st annual My Chick’n Me program at Batten’s Farm in south Broward County. The day included activities for 280 participants such as making dairy treats, a petting zoo, BBQ lunch and line dancing! Girls also made a special gift for Mother’s Day!
Dude That’s My Dad! Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida created a special one-day summer camp program to give girls the opportunity to bond with the special man in their life. They fished, crafted, sang, canoed and s’mored while enjoying each others’ company in the beautiful outdoors. Because of its popularity, a second day was added and more than 160 girls and dudes created memories to last a lifetime. Thousands of girls took part in outstanding Girl Scout program around the Council this year. See how these numbers add up! 420 — girls looked to the future by attending fall Gold and Silver Award workshops. 1600 — participants collected essential baby items for the Baby Basics Drive. 2493 — attendees shopped til they dropped at Mall Madness. 900 — girls munched on popcorn during Movie Mania. 2160 — attendees got spooked at Camp Creepy.
Congratulations to the following girls who earned their Girl Scout Gold Award in 2012.
Marie Elise Carr
Virginia Milam
Victoria Delgado
Kira Ogburn
Kelly Drovie
Sara Pengelley
Melissa Ellett
Tiffany Rodriguez
Lindsey Gerzina
Rosa Roman
Kaitlyn Groselle
Crystal Schelmety
Jennifer Ketcham
Kira Silverman
Michelle McArdle
Emily Elizabeth Slavin
Julia Joy McBee
Brittney Lynn Torres
Stephanie McCrate
Cara Valcourt
Brielle Meltzer
Samantha Webster
McKenzie Merritt
Kaci Weekly
Celebrating 100 years of Being Green! Girl Scouts Forever Green, the 100th Anniversary Take Action Project, was a national effort for girls to lead their families, schools and communities in improving the environment and protecting natural resources. Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida invited every girl, Troop, Service Unit and Area to TAKE ACTION and make a significant impact on the environment by participating in one of these three projects: • Reduce Waste - Reduce the number of discarded single-use plastic bottles and bags and increase recycling rates. • Earth Hour - Encourage sustainable behavior change, reduce carbon dioxide footprints. • Rain Gardens - Increase green space and wildlife habitats. When combined with the It’s Your Planet—Love It! Leadership Journeys, Girl Scouts Forever Green engaged girls to activate their communities in a global effort to protect our planet. More than 4,500 people in our area took the Forever Green Pledge stating their year-long commitment to making the world a better place.
What We Did Locally Local Girl Scouts impacted our environment by: • Reducing Waste
2,570 people reduced waste by switching from single-use plastic to reusable water bottles and bags and recycling aluminum cans. The total environmental impact of this reduction was the elimination of 3,646,355 pounds of waste
• Saving Energy 1,452 people committed to participate in Earth Hour 2012 The total environmental impact of this saved 68,043 kWh of energy • Rain Gardens 518 people worked to construct rain gardens 21 rain gardens were constructed in our jurisdiction 2,166 new native plants/trees were planted 5,288 square feet of green space was planted The total environmental impact of creating the rain gardens saved 79,800 gallons of water – enough to fill 798 bathtubs! The final celebration of Girl Scouts Forever Green happened at the Palm Beach Zoo when more than 930 guests visited the local exhibits at the zoo, saw vendors from our community that shared how they are “being green” locally and learned ways to be “Forever Green” every day.
Fund Development Our 100th Anniversary was the perfect time to reenergize and create a series of fundraising events that gathered friends, alumnae, donors and community members together to support the mission of Girl Scouting.
100th Anniversary Kick-Off On March 16, 2012, we celebrated a century of leadership with a 100th Anniversary Kick-Off event at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach. To help us launch our Because I Was a Girl Scout campaign, 175 old and new friends joined us to hear the inspirational stories of Donna Mulholland, Madeline Hooper, Christina D’Elosua, Dr. Denise L. Herzing, Dena Sisk Foman and Renelda Mack. These six women are former Girl Scouts who attributed their successes and achievements in part to the experiences they had in Girl Scouting.
Women of Distinction The 100th Anniversary celebration continued just a few weeks later, when 100 friends and supporters from Indian River County gathered for the Women of Distinction luncheon held at the Quail River Valley Club in Vero Beach. The event celebrated the accomplishments of five deserving women who represent leadership in five key areas that Girl Scouts focus on in their leadership development and program offerings. The honorees and their areas of focus were Carol Hatfield: STEM, Sue Tompkins: Financial Literacy, Nancy Heinrich: Healthy Living, Dr. Edith “Edie” Widder: Environmental Leadership, and Burke Michael-Neely: Global Citizenship.
Thin Mint Sprint
As part of our Healthy Living initiative, we hosted our inaugural Thin Mint Sprint 5K Race held at Carlin Park in Jupiter on February 18, 2012. The Thin Mint Sprint was open to runners of all ages and even included a Tagalong Trot 100 yard dash for children ages 8 and under. Nearly 130 runners and their families joined the fun. Through the generous support of our sponsors and attendees, our events raised over $65,000 in revenue to support our Council.
A very special thank you to everyone who generously supported Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida in 2011-2012. The financial investments provided by our family partnership campaign, corporations, foundations, individuals and United Way were all integral to our success. The following donors contributed $500.00 or more. American Express Foundation American Legion Auxiliary Anonymous Donor AT&T Mr. Stanley Beck Board of County Commissioners of Martin County Boys & Girls Club of Martin County Broward County Sheriff’s Office Dr. Stephanie Brown Ms. Tracy Carroll Children’s Services Council - St. Lucie County City of Hallandale Beach City of Hollywood City of Riviera Beach Community Foundation of Broward Coral Springs Community Chest Crutchfield Foundation Duffy’s Sports Grill Everglades Farm Equipment Florida Blue Ms. Dena Sisk Foman Mr. Bernard Gallagher Hobe Sound Community Chest, Inc. Iberia Bank Illustrated Properties Charities Indian River Community Foundation Jessie Ball Dupont Fund Jupiter Dive Center, Inc. Jupiter Tequesta Rotary Club Kellogg Foundation Mr. Gregory Kissel Kiwanis Club of Riviera Beach
Kiwanis Club of West Palm Beach LaMacchia Family Foundation Lawrence A. Sanders Foundation Ms. Henrietta McBee Ms. Robin Ellen Meyers Ms. Burke Michael-Neely Ms. Jeanne Selander Miller Mr. James Mueller Donna and Dan Mulholland Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Proffitt Management Solutions, Inc. Publix Super Market Charities, Inc. The Quantum Foundation Raymond James RC Stork Properties Ms. Susan Hazard Rimato Rotary Club of Delray Beach Sister’s Bistro Carolyn and Richard Sloane Ms. Virginia Spencer State of Florida, Department of Education State of Florida, Department of Justice United Way of Indian River County United Way of Martin County United Way of Palm Beach County United Way of Okeechobee County UBS Financial Mrs. Denise W. Valz Vecellio Family Foundation, Inc. Walter and Adi Blum Foundation Ms. Joanne Weiner
The Girl Scout Cookie Program Whether girls are learning goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skills, or business ethics, it is no surprise that the annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale is at the heart of our financial literacy programming. And the 2012 Girl Scout Cookie Sale was very successful, with almost 9,000 girls participating. Total sales were 1,494,740 boxes of cookies, up 2 percent over the prior year. Our Cookies for the Military campaign broke all records, with 35,551 boxes donated—an increase of 20 percent. And troops earned just under $1.1 million dollars to invest in programs and activities throughout the year.
Duffy’s Does it Again! For the second year in a row, Duffy’s Sports Grill made the Samoa Cupcake part of its MVP lineup, all to benefit Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. The delicious treats, made with our ever-popular Samoa Cookies, were sold for $1 and Duffy’s donated $.50 from each sale back to Girl Scouts. The sale generated a donation of $7,600 from Duffy’s which will be used for fun, local Girl Scout programs and activities. Thanks Duffy’s!
Cookie University Almost 500 girls joined us for Cookie University, a program uniquely designed to help girls get prepared, and excited, for the 2012 Girl Scout Cookie Sale Program. With classes in customer service and marketing, goal setting, and even blinging their t-shirt, the girls had an amazing day and were ready for the cookie sale program to begin.
Becoming a member of the GSSEF Extreme Team was a goal for many girls this year, and 99 girls reached this impressive milestone. Almost half of these girls were part of the Extreme Team last year too, and several have reached it for three consecutive years. For the second year in a row, Aaliyah Booker took home the title of Top Seller—after selling an amazing 3,225 boxes of cookies. Congratulations to the following Girl Scouts who joined the Extreme Team by selling 1,000 or more boxes of Girl Scout cookies during our 2012 Cookie Sale Program. Abigail Abanto Hollans Savannah Adams* Ashley Backus Allyson Beldon* Gillian Beutel* Victoria Beuthien* Julia Bieniek* Kaitlyn Blatchford* Kylee Boivin* Aaliyah Booker* Hannah Bruder Jayna Brunner* Olivia Caban Emily Campbell* Alicia Caputo Madelynn Carlson Jamie Caron Randi Cass* Erin Chancey Bella Chenet Madison Cordero* Mia Cruz* Mikaela Danchenko* Tiana Daniels
Carlee Deily Jordan Devereaux* Brooke Dolan Danny Fearon Josey Flowers Megan Ford Alisha Garnsey* Naila Gaffar Morgan Gary Chayla Golden Christina Hamilton* Lisa Marie Handal* Kailey Harris Amanda Harris Meghan Heilpern Leann Helpling Nicole Hemmer* Alexis Hickman Robre’ana Hutchinson* Hanna Jaeger Lydia Johnson* Emily Kennedy Ashley Klement* Cristina Kodadek Amanda Kopelman Amanda LaCerra*
Elizabeth Laycock* Imani LeFlore* Crystal Leonard* Hannah Lewis* Tramira Lewis Amy Lindemann* Lauren McGowan* Kayla Maybre Shiyanna McLeod* Elizabeth Miles-Dean* Autumn Miller* Elizabeth Moreno DeAnjah Maldonado Emily Neal* Jalissa Neal* Emily Nelson* Jaedyn Oren Kira Patel Lisa Pearson Savannah Pocciari Tramira Proctor Phoenix Rafael Peyton Raub Sara Recht
Madison Ring Alexis Rizzolo* Sophie Rogers* Maya Rose Brooke Ryerson Gabriella Salas Linda Saraniti Desteni Saunds Daniela Schonis* Faith Scott Bernice Shed* Lyndi Stettner Jessica Terkovich* Isabella Thomas Stephanie Tuffani Brianna Tutwiler-Dinardo Genevieve VanCamp Violeta Valdez Maggie Varela* Sarah Wadley* Briana Warner* Samantha White Emily Williams Stephanie Wolff* Amanda Wysocki* Michaella Yentz* * denotes repeat Extreme Team member
100th Anniversary Patch Program As we celebrate 2012 as the Year of the Girl, Girl Scouts could commemorate this special anniversary year by earning the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida 100th Anniversary patch, designed by Julie J. from Troop #10882. Girls rediscovered the history and traditions of Girl Scouting, connected with other Girl Scouts through a multitude of events and activities, and explored how they could impact the future of the Girl Scout Movement. This program was designed to give troops and individual girls alike a snapshot of all that Girl Scouting has to offer and an opportunity to reflect on what Girl Scouting is all about to them! From Daisies to Ambassadors, this patch program was uniquely designed for girls to dynamically Discover, Connect and Take Action. A special THANK YOU to Jonna and Jeannette Circe from Himmarshee Service Unit in Area 3 for working with our team and creating our 100th Anniversary Patch Program requirements!
GSSEF Council Patch Created After countless requests for a GSSEF Council patch, we decided that the 100th Anniversary would be the perfect time to create a new patch for our Council. We invited girls to be part of our history by participating in a patch design contest. They thought about what makes Southeast Florida special and unique and submitted some awesome design ideas. 860 people voted for their favorite design in our first-ever Facebook poll. We are super excited to announce the new Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida Council Patch designed by Faithe S. from Troop 20303!
Because I Was a Girl Scout In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting, Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida began to gather stories about the impact Girl Scouting has had on the lives of the women who were Girl Scouts and the impact these women have had— in their families, communities, and professions. Maybe you spent your first night away from home at Girl Scout Camp and you now pride yourself on your outdoor survival skills. Perhaps you learned about goal setting, marketing and customer service skills while selling Girl Scout cookies and are now leading a sales force in your industry. You may have learned about community service in Girl Scouts and now you are a regular volunteer and have instilled these same values in your children.
Tell Your Story Every Girl Scout has a story, and we have invited our alumnae to be part of our “Because I Was a Girl Scout” campaign by telling their story online at www.becauseiwasagirlscout.org or sharing it on our Because I Was a Girl Scout Facebook page.
GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHEAST FLORIDA STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES For the Years Ended September 30, 2012 and 2011 Public Support and Revenues
2012
Public Support Contributions............................................................................................................ $204,587 Planned Giving.......................................................................................................... 46,656 United Way Campaigns............................................................................................ 45,224 Government Grants.................................................................................................. 146,686
2011 $214,971 (2,310) 56,861 192,077
Total Public Support............................................................................ 443,153 461,599 Special Events Special Events Revenues......................................................................................... 53,183 0 Less Cost of Direct Benefit to Donors...................................................................... (29,835) 0 Net Special Events............................................................................... 23,348 Program Related Revenues Program Related Services Product Sales..................................................................................................... 5,386,582 Cost of Sales...................................................................................................... (1,696,156) Net Product Sales................................................................................ 3,690,426 Program Fees........................................................................................................... 287,652 Merchandise Sales Gross Receipts.................................................................................................. 408,958 Direct Costs....................................................................................................... (291,168)
Net Merchandise Sales.......................................................................
117,280
Total Program Related Revenues....................................................... 4,095,358 Other Revenues Interest and Dividends.............................................................................................. 36,812 Realized Gain (Loss) on Investments........................................................................ 22,577 Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments.................................................................... 186,662 Rental Income........................................................................................................... 54,338 Miscellaneous Income.............................................................................................. 18,799
0 5,362,853 (1,667,545) 3,695,308 366,136 347,762 (229,791) 117,971 4,179.415 31,173 55,600 (42,986) 48,911 2,361
Total Other Revenues..........................................................................
319,188
95,059
TOTAL PUBLIC SUPPORT & REVENUES...........................................
4,881,047
4,736,073
Expenses Program Services.......................................................................................................... $3,694,035 Supporting Services Management and General........................................................................................ 468,358 Fundraising .............................................................................................................. 344,851
$3,495,322 460,202 276,122
Total Supporting Services................................................................... TOTAL EXPENSES...............................................................................
813,209 4,507,244
736,324 4,231,646
Change in Net Assets..........................................................................................................
373,803
504,427
Net Assets at Beginning of Year........................................................................................ $5,328,145
$4,823,718
Net Assets at End of Year................................................................................................... $5,701,948
$5,328,145
gssef.org • becauseiwasagirlscout.org Jupiter Service Center 1224 West Indiantown Road Jupiter, FL 33458 561-427-0177 866-727-4475
Oakland Park Service Center 4701 NW 33rd Avenue Oakland Park, FL 33309 954-739-7660 866-727-4475