Last month, we shared that less than 50% of our service units have volunteers serving as their service unit managers and that even fewer service units have active service unit teams. Rather than continuing down a path that has more than half of our service units led by a GSHPA staff person and offers an inconsistent approach to engaging volunteers at a local level, we asked for volunteer insight into our current service unit model.

Thankfully, you responded. Volunteers representing over 86% of our current service units throughout all five regions responded to our call for help by either completing an online survey or participating in focus group discussions.

Your feedback confirmed that service units continue to offer a huge opportunity to localize the Girl Scout experience for both girls and volunteers. You and your peers also confirmed that the majority of the confusion, challenges and frustrations faced by service units across our council may be minimized and/or alleviated with a clearer and more consistent purpose - especially one that builds upon the strengths that exist within our current model and better aligns the needs and interests of today's volunteers with bringing our Girl Scout mission to life at a local level.

As a result, the following service unit purpose has emerged:

GSHPA volunteers representative of a designated geographic portion of the 30 county Girl Scout council who plan and implement local events & activities for girls, organize local volunteer support, networking & appreciation efforts, assist in the recruitment of new girl and adult members from throughout the local area and help raise local funds in support of financial assistance for girls all in accordance with current Girl Scouts in the Heart of PA policies and procedures and the shared goal of making the local Girl Scout experience great.

But a clearer purpose is only the beginning.

Your feedback further confirmed that those service units that function the best have two key ingredients in common: strong volunteer leadership and members who feel a strong connection to the other members of their service unit. In order to cultivate these strengths among 100% of our service units and incorporate many of the suggestions that came from you and your peers, the following four key shifts will start to occur this month:

• Renaming service units something that better reflects their true purpose and encourages the natural cultivation of local connections among all Girl Scouts. Moving forward, we will call service units Girl Scout Communities.

• Merging together service units who lack a current or potential service unit manager with those who share geographic boundaries and have strong volunteer leadership in place.  By doing so, the number of Girl Scout Communities will total 84. Of the 113 service units that currently exist across GSHPA, more than 50% are staff-led. With this shift to Girl Scout Communities 100% will be volunteer led.

• Renaming the Service Unit Manager and updating her/his position description to better reflect a renewed focus on leading, facilitating, coordinating and delegating Girl Scout Community efforts around the newly defined purpose. Moving forward all Service Unit Managers will be called Community Leads.

• Creating a clearer delineation between the responsibilities of a Membership Associate, the Community Lead and the Membership Recruiter so that we can return to a truly volunteer-led model of organizing local Girl Scout efforts for girls and adults regardless of troop affiliation.

Later this month, all service unit managers who have been appointed or re-appointed for next year will attend one of four mandatory trainings to learn more about this new Girl Scout Community concept and their role as a Community Lead. In addition, we will continue to share updates with you through e-blasts, future issues of the volunteer newsletter, presentations at the four Volunteer Kick-Off events and informational webinars on August 15 and 21 (look for webinar registration info in your Inbox on July 23). In the meantime, if you have feedback you'd like to share, please send an email to general@gshpa.org.

Step #2 - Choose your date and location:

• August 3rd Kick-Off Locations:
• Watsontown United Methodist Church, 1319 Eighth Street Drive, Watsontown, PA, 17777
• Farm & Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Road, Lancaster, PA 17601
• August 10th Kick-Off Locations:
• Stroudsburg Junior High School, 1901 Chipperfield Drive, Stroudsburg, PA, 18360
• Grantville Holiday Inn, 604 Station Road, Exit 80 off I-81, Grantville, PA, 17028

Step #3 - Choose your workshops for each of the three sessions. Workshop topics include:

• Grade Level Workshops
• Fall Product Training
• 10 Essential Elements for troops & the Girl Scout Leadership Experience
• Girl Scout Curriculum
• Traditions
• Troop Admin
• Program Preview
• Event Planning

Click here for the workshop descriptions. 

Always wanted to take your troop canoeing but lacked the right certification to able to do so? Sign up now for the American Canoe Association Level 1 (Introduction to Canoeing) course at Camp Golden Pond in September. After successfully completing this course, you will be certified to rent canoes with your troop at any of our council-owned camps*. By the end of the course, you will be able to pass a skills assessment that will include basic flat-water strokes and maneuvers, rescue/safety concepts and basic technical knowledge. Included in the course is a six-month introductory membership with the American Canoe Association (ACA). Course space is limited.

*Please remember that you also need to have a lifeguard present when canoeing on council-owned lakes.

Dates: September 7- September 8 

 Click here to register. 

Registration Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on August 22, 2013.