The New York Times reports that The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded on Friday to three campaigning women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their nonviolent [...]]]> During the Girl Scout Congressional Aide program, Kate, a Girl Scout, had the opportunity to meet Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The New York Times reports that The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded on Friday to three campaigning women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s first elected female president — her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.

They were the first women to win the prize since Kenya’s Wangari Maathai, who died last month, was named as the laureate in 2004.

Most of the recipients in the award’s 110-year history have been men and Friday’s decision seemed designed to give impetus to the cause for women’s rights around the world.

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society,” said the citation read by Thorbjorn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister who heads the Oslo-based Nobel committee that chooses the winner of the $1.5 million prize.

(Source: Joshua at GSUSA)

The first [...]]]> The National Program Evaluation System (NPES) registration process is well underway.  We encourage all members – girls and adults – to be a part of this survey system.  It has been developed to assess girls’ progress toward the benefits and outcomes that the Girl Scout Leadership Experience promises to all Girl Scouts.

The first step to participating in the NPES is to complete a registration survey.  Once you have completed the registration survey, you will become a part of the GSMH panel of participants, who may later be surveyed about their Girl Scout Leadership Experience. To begin this process and make sure your voice is heard, go to www.GirlScoutVoices.org.  For a paper version of the registration process, please contact the Senior Manager Leadership Program at 877-312-4764 x1327.

Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland trip to the National Council Session and 52nd National Convention

We are putting together a girl trip for the 52nd National Convention and would love to have a great group of girls [...]]]> Update: Registration has been extended — have your registration in to Deborah Oglesby by August 26.

Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland trip to the National Council Session and 52^nd National Convention

We are putting together a girl trip for the 52^nd National Convention and would love to have a great group of girls attend!

The dates for the trip are Wednesday, November 9 through Monday, November 14 and will be leaving from the Joplin area.  Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland will provide letters to the schools of participating girls requesting that these days be considered excused absences due to the educational nature of the convention. These dates were chosen to allow girls to attend both the opening and closing ceremonies.  The cost for attendance as part of our council group is $735 per girl and $855 per adult.  These costs include transportation, breakfast each day, convention registration and your hotel room.  We are allowed to have 10 girls attend the Girl Scout Leadership Institute and there would be an additional fee for participation.

At this point in time, we have 16 spots open.  If we have more than 16 people committed to going, the per person cost will be dropped accordingly.

We have to register by August 1, 2011.  Please note that cookie credit and program credit may be used for this trip.  Also, if you would like to make a partial payment, to hold your spot, you may do so.  We would need a deposit of at least $250 per person to hold your spot.  Unfortunately, since we are on such a tight turnaround time, refunds will not be possible.

If you would like to attend, please contact Deborah Oglesby, Leadership Program Specialist at 877-312-4764 ext. 1212 or by email at doglesby@girlscoutsmoheartland.org.

National Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating [...]]]> Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week has grown exponentially in scope each year since, drawing the support and endorsement of all subsequent U.S. presidents, governors, mayors and other respected elected officials.

National Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating to the nation that by working together, in unison, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals. National Volunteer Week is about taking action, encouraging individuals and their respective communities to be at the center of social change—discovering and actively demonstrating their collective power to foster positive transformation.

During National Volunteer Week, Girl Scouts of the USA pays tribute to innovative volunteers for making a difference. National Volunteer Week is not only our moment in time to celebrate our volunteers, but to enable a nation to share ideas, practices, and stories, wherever they happen, and shaping a movement to re-imagine the notion of citizenship for the 21st century.

(ht: GSUSA)

Earth Hour and Girls Scouts of the USA announced a collaboration to increase environmental education, awareness and action. This collaboration is part of the Earth Hour global campaign, launched today in Singapore, that marks the beginning of a new phase for Earth Hour to “go beyond the hour” – encouraging people to capture, [...]]]>

Earth Hour and Girls Scouts of the USA announced a collaboration to increase environmental education, awareness and action. This collaboration is part of the Earth Hour global campaign, launched today in Singapore, that marks the beginning of a new phase for Earth Hour to “go beyond the hour” – encouraging people to capture, share and inspire environmental conversation and action year-round.

Earth Hour is a global initiative that invites individuals, businesses, governments and communities to turn off their lights for one hour – 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26 – to show support for environmentally sustainable action. In the United States, Earth Hour is partnering with the Girl Scouts to bring the movement to life.

“Our organizations have a common purpose – to create a better environment for future generations,” said Earth Hour Co-Founder and Executive Director Andy Ridley. “Girl Scouts make a tangible difference in their communities. The support of such a respected organization helps us contribute to the environmental education of young people and spread this global movement across generations and geographies.”

Initially a single-city initiative in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, Earth Hour has become a global movement in which hundreds of millions of people from every continent join together to acknowledge the importance of protecting and improving the planet. Earth Hour 2010 was the world’s largest global climate change initiative, with millions of participants in more than 4,600 cities across nearly 130 countries and territories. Since its inception in 2007, Earth Hour’s iconic “lights out” event has seen some of the world’s most recognized landmarks switch off their lights, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Buckingham Palace in London, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the Forbidden City in China.

This year, nearly 20 Girl Scout Councils from across the country will be organizing Earth Hour activities, and Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is one of them. “Our girls care deeply about the environment, and this partnership gives them a simple way to share this passion with their friends, families and communities,” said Kathy Cloninger, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of the USA. “It’s important that we all do our part to protect the environment.”
Thousands of Girl Scouts across the country will be participating in community activities to support Earth Hour on March 26. In addition, many Girl Scouts are taking activities beyond the hour by installing ENERGY STAR®-qualified or other energy-efficient light bulbs in homes, schools and businesses during the month of March.

Share your Girl Scout activities in picture or video! http://earthhourblog.posterous.com/share-your-earth-hour-photos-and-videos

• Encourage girls and participants to post photos and videos on GSUSA’s Flickr and YouTube tools and link through Earth Hour’s blog. Be sure to tag the footage with “gsforevergreen.”

• Earth Hour has also set up the following user name and password so that Girl Scouts can upload pictures, video, and audio files to the Earth Hour global media centre www.earthhour.org/media.aspx. Attached is the instruction guide.

Username: girlscoutsusa
Password: passw0rd (note the zero)

The link is now posted http://earthhourblog.posterous.com/share-your-earth-hour-photos-and-videos on the Earth Hour page of our GSFG Web site. (near the bottom,  third to last paragraph, last sentence reads:)

The Earth Hour collaboration is one part of the Girl Scouts’ broader commitment to environmental sustainability. Girl Scouts Forever Green (GSFG), the Girl Scouts’ 100th Anniversary Take Action Project, is a national effort of girls leading their families, schools and communities in improving the environment and protecting natural resources. The effort offers a meaningful leadership experience that makes a positive impact on the environment through three key projects: 1) using reusable water bottles and bags to reduce plastic waste; 2) planting and maintaining rain gardens at schools, homes and other sites; and 3) participation in Earth Hour events. Participants are also encouraged to take an online pledge stating their yearlong commitment to GSFG efforts. Beginning in July, all 112 Girl Scout councils and USA Girl Scouts Overseas will be invited to participate in Girl Scouts Forever Green.

“The Girl Scouts Forever Green project is a great example of how organizations can take Earth Hour beyond the hour and make a positive difference for the future of the planet,” Ridley added.

There currently are only 2 days until Earth Hour 2011, which asks the world to:

• Switch off lights for Earth Hour at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, March 26, and celebrate a commitment to the planet with the people of the world;
• Sign up and share stories of actions that benefit the planet on www.earthhour.org; and
• Sustain environmentally focused actions beyond the hour and share your act with the world at www.earthhour.org/beyondthehour.

For more information, visit www.earthhour.org or www.girlscouts.org/forevergreen.

About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a global initiative in partnership with WWF. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8:30 p.m. to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. By 2010, Earth Hour had created history as the largest voluntary action ever witnessed with participation across 128 countries and territories and every continent, including the world’s most recognized man-made marvels and natural wonders in a landmark environmental action.

•    USA Girl Scouts Overseas: As many of you know, we do maintain an office and staff in Japan to support the families [...]]]> We have all been shaken by the waves of terrible news from Japan over these past few days.  Many have asked what we can do to help.  Here are some suggestions:

•    USA Girl Scouts Overseas: As many of you know, we do maintain an office and staff in Japan to support the families of military personnel stationed there.  Reports are that our office has suffered minor damage – and that all the staff and their families are “shaken,” but fine.

•    Fund Raising Policy: It is fine for troops/groups/girls to raise money to aid victims of this horrible disaster.  Please remember that in the early stages of disasters like this, money is more helpful than “care packages.”

•    Helping Girl Scouts of Japan: We are very concerned about our Girl Scout sisters who are members of Girl Scouts of Japan and we would like to provide some movement-wide support to them.  Details are not available yet, but an account will be set up at Girl Scouts of the USA to collect donations to go to Girl Scouts of Japan so that we can send one large donation on behalf of all Girl Scout sisters in the USA.

• Other organizations you can contribute to:

Convoy of Hope

American Red Cross

International Medical Corps

Shelterbox

Americares

We will keep you informed as we receive information from GSUSA.

In response to the quake, The Red Cross [...]]]> The 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on Friday claimed hundreds of lives, destroyed cities, and triggered tsunami waves in Japan, Hawaii and other parts of the Pacific. 88,000 people are now reported missing following the tsunamis. Below are some reputable organizations through which you can help.

In response to the quake, The Red Cross has launched efforts in Japan. Visit Redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 from your phone.

Save the Children is currently organizing efforts and donations to their Children’s Emergency Fund will support their outreach.

The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund was launched at GlobalGiving.org to garner funds for relief organizations helping victims and has already raised thousands, particularly from concerned Twitter users around the world.

For any who have loved ones abroad, Google has stepped up to help. Along with a tsunami alert posted on their front page, they’ve launched the Person Finder to help connect people that may have been displaced due to the disaster.

Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by this disaster.