JAX Chamber: Girl Scouts Celebrate 110th Anniversary

Press release from the JAX Chamber:

March 10, 2022

Jacksonville, Fla. –– March 10, 2022 –– Girl Scouts of Gateway Council joins troops across the country and around the world to celebrate 110 years of Girl Scouts on March 12, 2022. The Council will celebrate this milestone with special challenges highlighting the Girl Scout movement throughout Girl Scout Week, which began March 6. The week of celebration includes various events for Girl Scouts and culminates with birthday bash events across the Council on Saturday, March 12, as well as the kick off for the Girl Scout Tree Promise, a national environmental initiative to plant trees throughout its local communities.

Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia in 1912. With just 18 girls, Low began the organization that still thrives today worldwide. Nearly 10,000 girls are active within the organization through the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, which supports 35 counties across North Florida.

“Girl Scouts serves as an integral part of girl development here within the Gateway Council’s communities and worldwide,” said Mary Anne Jacobs, Girl Scouts of Gateway Council CEO. “We will always be grateful for Juliette’s vision to create this incredible organization –– she and her first 18 girls started something that girls are still benefiting from today.” 

The Girl Scouts prepares girls for the future, teaching them to empower themselves through the organization's four pillars: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), lifeskills, outdoors and entrepreneurship. Girl Scouts promotes a sense of leadership, compassion, courage and confidence in girls in grades K-12 through many programs, including the ever-popular Girl Scout Cookie Season. Girls earn badges throughout the year by completing various challenges and earning special awards, including the Girl Scout Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. 

Gateway Council invites the local community to join them in honoring 110 years of Girl Scouting by planting a tree in their local community in support of the Girl Scout Tree Promise initiative. Gateway Council will host tree planting events throughout the year sponsored by Elliott Wildlife Values Project and American Forests, in an effort to plant 1,912 trees (a nod to the group’s founding year) to recognize where they started and look toward where they’re going –– continuing to make a lasting impact on the community and the world around them. To register your tree, visit girlscouts-gateway.org/en/camps/about-camps.html. 

For more information about the Girl Scouts, how GSGC is celebrating or to sign up to become a Girl Scout, visit https://www.girlscouts-gateway.org/. 

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About Girl Scouts of Gateway Council

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council serves approximately 14,000 members — nearly 10,000 girls in grades K-12 and are supported by more than 4,000 adults across North Florida. Our service area includes 35 counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Okaloosa, Putnam, Santa Rosa, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla, Walton and Washington. For information on how to join, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, visit www.girlscouts-gateway.org or call 1 (877) 764-5237.

This press release was produced by the JAX Chamber. The views expressed here are the author’s own.