Reaching Out To Girls Who Need It Most!
Due to lack of transportation, funding or volunteer support, many girls who need the benefits of girl scouts are not able to access them. United Way of Jackson County supports the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan Outreach Program which brings youth development opportunities to young girls who need it most. The Outreach Program is at work in several Jackson Public School locations, the Jackson District Library, the Lily Missions Center and the Martin Luther King Community Center. In a traditional setting a volunteer would be the role model and mentor for these young girls, in the Outreach Program the facilitator fills that role. The girls in this program develop healthy relationships with adults, form positive values and learn healthy life skills. Here is just one small example of the impact that is made every day by the Outreach Program.
Although this year’s program at the Summit Branch of the Jackson District Library was small (4 girls participating), it was a big hit with those girls. Girls completed two sets of activities that kept them reading during the summer months, and earned them two recognitions in the form of badges (Book Artist and Special Agent). Another great success was the I Can Be curriculum, which was used at multiple sites this summer. Girls were very excited to dabble in different careers, and several girls have since expressed interest in non-traditional careers like “being a detective.”
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