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 If you are interested in exploring the great outdoors and sleeping under the stars, we’ve got a group for you!
Becky Miller and Mara Teeslink aka “Chiknhead” and “Hershey” are starting a backpacking interest group. This group is for girls and adults alike! Troop leaders can bring their girls to learn along with them, or try it out on their own without the girls. Girls need to be at least in the 7th grade and everyone must weigh at least 100 lbs (so they can carry the packs!). Interested girls and adults will first attend a Shakedown to cover some basics about what equipment is needed, menu planning and a practice hike. There is basic equipment available for use and the destination of the trip will be determined by the group.
Shakedown is planned for September 24, 2011 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Finbrooke Program Center Rogersville, MO and the backpacking weekend is planned for October 8-9th somewhere south of I-44! If you are interested, or have any questions please contact Becky Miller at talknwaters@cebridge.net.
 Thanks to sister Girl Scout troops across the country, volunteers, community members, businesses, United Ways, GSUSA and staff, the Disaster Relief Fund has generated available funding to help our sister Girl Scouts who have been affected by the tornadoes and flooding in our council area. With these funds, we have been able to help girls, volunteers and staff with basic need items and Girl Scout items.
These funds are available to help girls replace handbooks (with Journey books), sashes, patches, badges, uniforms, as well as provide membership and program fee financial assistance. We will also replace leader books and provide volunteers with membership and training fee assistance.
To receive this assistance, leaders or family members should call Vivian Glover at 877-312-4764 x 1106 .
Ozarks Food Harvest needs to re-stock its shelves after receiving many requests from the Joplin area this spring and summer. Please bring donations to the Ozarks Food Harvest 2810 N. Cedarbrook in Springfield. Donations are accepted year-round, but are especially needed this August, September, and October.
If you need more information, please call the Ozarks Food Harvest directly at 417-865-3411.
 View the flyer for more information.
PHASE 2: FOR GIRL SCOUTS NOT REGISTERING THROUGH THEIR COUNCILS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Phase 2 of convention registration will open on Monday, August 8th, at 1:00 pm EDT. We would appreciate your sharing this information with those members of your council who were not or will not be included as part of Phase 1 of registration. This link is being provided to you so that you may publish it for use by official visitors or other interested individuals who may want to attend the convention and have not registered through the council: https://girlscouts.wingateweb.com/portal/newreg.ww.
Prior to actually registering, these individuals may want to learn more about the convention program. Details on the content, as well as information about Houston and housing, is available on the Girl Scouts convention website – www.girlscouts.org/convention.
During Phase 2, the general public or individuals or groups (e.g., troops, etc.) who do not register through their Girl Scout council may register themselves for any of the following: Official Visitors who are not Alternate Delegates, Day Passes, Hall of Exhibits Only Passes, 100th Anniversary Parties, Girl Scouts University @ Convention Tracks 1 and 2, and the History Conference. These individuals must meet the Girl Scout membership and minimum age requirements.
These registration categories must continue to register via Council Group Registration: Delegates, Official Visitors who are Alternate Delegates, Girl Scout Leadership Institute (GSLI) registrants, and Girl Scouts University (GSU) @ Convention: Track 3 – Board Governance registrants. Anyone who registers for any of these packages must do so through their Girl Scout council.
IMPORTANT!
If the council has already registered an attendee as a delegate, official visitor, purchased a day pass or admission to the Hall of Exhibits, and the attendee wishes to add an event (e.g., 100th Anniversary Party, GSU @ Convention), the council must add these additional registration packages to the attendee’s original registration. This will avoid duplication of registration records and will allow the council to pickup all registration materials at one time onsite in Houston.
Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland will resume activities at Latonka Program Center on August 1, 2011. Activities had been suspended during the restoration process from the historic flooding that affected the Lake Wappapello area in May. All facilities at the program center – including the waterfront, challenge course and camping units – will be available to Girl Scout groups and community groups.
Much of the clean-up work required debris removal and hauling large loads of sand and gravel and will be completed by August 1. Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland appreciates the numerous offers from volunteers to help clean-up Latonka from the flooding.
Latonka Program Center, just like all GSMH program properties, can always use clean-up help such as raking leaves, clearing trails, cleaning cabins and bathrooms, etc. Volunteers, girl members and Girl Scout parents that would like to provide this kind of help can come to the Latonka Program Center Clean-up Day on Saturday, August 13. The clean-up day will be held from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Volunteers may want to bring work gloves and tools such as rakes and pruning shears if you have them. Everyone can bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the clean-up is finished and GSMH will provide beverages, watermelon and ice cream for dessert. Registration is required for the clean-up day so that we know how many people to expect. Adults will need to attend with the girls to provide supervision. To register, please contact Sandy Vaughn, Property/Risk Manager, at svaughn@girlscoutsmoheartland.org or call 1-877-312-4764 ext. 1514 no later than Wednesday August 10.
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 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 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.
The recent disaster in Joplin has left many businesses without operating space, many of which are looking to reopen as quickly as possible. As many of you are aware, our Joplin Service Center has been on the market since June 2010, after the board of directors voted last year to sell it and move operations to a storefront facility. A sales contract for our service center was submitted to us on Friday, May 27, and the board of directors approved it on Wednesday, June 1.
We recognize that this catastrophic event has disrupted many lives, and we are dedicated to make the transition process as seamless as possible for the girls, volunteers and staff in Joplin. The board also approved a lease for space one mile from the current service center location, in the Crown Plaza at 1202 S. Rangeline Road, Suites 8 & 9. This space will accommodate our staffing needs, house retail operations and a seasonal cookie cupboard, and provide a location for members to drop off paperwork.
We have received a closing date of June 30 regarding the sales contract for the Joplin Service Center. The last day for operations at this building was close of business on Friday, June 17. As you are aware, we will be leasing a space at 1202 S. Rangeline Road. We will need to do some remodeling before the office can be opened for business. We are working as quickly as possible to make this a quick turnaround, but there will be some transition time in which we will not be able to conduct business from the new facility, including retail shop services. To help provide good service to our members, customers in service units 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 710, and 711 will receive free shipping on GSMH retail orders through our GSMH web site or through our mail order/phone order process. Free shipping will remain in effect until the retail services are up and running at the new facility on Rangeline.
If you need to turn in registrations or other paperwork, continue mailing them to the current Joplin Service Center address of 1029 E. 7th Street, Joplin, MO 64801. Please do not bring anything to the 7th St. address or the Rangeline address.
We are working hard to make this a smooth transition, and we appreciate your patience during this time.
 Connecting with the community!
Forty girls from central and southern Missouri, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. To earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, each girl must complete extensive leadership requirements, including thirty hours in a leadership role and forty hours of career exploration. Girls must also complete at least sixty-five hours of research, preparation, service, and evaluation for a project that serves a need in their community, locally or globally.
“Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of these young women,” said Chief Executive Officer Jennifer M. Orban, “Their dedication and leadership are a testament to the power of what girls can do.” Girls this year took action in a wide variety of ways. Their projects ranged from restoring local parks to developing sensory trails to delivering school supplies for children in Honduras.
Fewer than 5 percent of all Girl Scouts nationwide earn the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award annually. Forty high school Girl Scouts in Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland, which has a membership of approximately 16,000 girls, earned the award this year.
About the Girl Scout Gold Award
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout 14-18 may earn, often described as “what you really want to be remembered for” in Girl Scouting. For many, the leadership skills, organizational skills, and sense of community and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.
For more information, see the official press release.
United Way 2-1-1 has begun mobilizing thousands of volunteers from across Missouri and across the nation. As you know, the recovery and rebuilding of Joplin is not something that can take place in a week. Volunteers are needed now and will be needed for the weeks and months to come. Please join United Way of Central Missouri in our effort to let our community know they can help the people of Joplin by signing up to volunteer at www.211missouri.org and/or by forwarding this information to your co-workers, family and friends.
Below is an image that links directly to the Joplin Relief Effort project page where individuals can review projects and sign up to help. The direct link to the project list is: http://www.stl.unitedway.org/getinvolved/volunteercenter/volunteer/joplin.aspx. This list is updated often with new and changing projects. When people sign up, they receive an automated email with specific project instructions. Already thousands have used this system for to volunteer in Joplin, and many more spots are available.
Thank you for your efforts to help those people in need in Joplin. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (573) 636-4100.
For more information on Joplin relief efforts, see our previous post, Joplin-Area Tornado Relief Efforts.
 Girls learn to use resources wisely
It’s nearly time for new phone books to land on front porches and in business lobbies. Local Girl
Scouts have a creative way for your old phone books to be re-used! Now through July 31, Girl
Scouts will be collecting old phone books for Nestle Purina’s Project PetLitter. “Yesterday’s
News” is pet litter made from recycled newspapers, catalogs, magazines, junk mail, and other
paper. “This is a great, hands-on way for girls to take action within their community and to
practice the ‘use resources wisely’ portion of the Girl Scout Law,” says Jennifer M. Orban, CEO
of Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland. Girl Scout troops also benefit by receiving proceeds
from Nestle Purina PetCare rewards for each book collected. Last year Girl Scouts collected
more than 64 tons of phonebooks and earned more than $1,600 in proceeds to use toward
leadership activities and service projects.
The drop-off locations in Springfield include all Dillon’s grocery stores and from 8:30 am – 4:30
pm at the Girl Scout Administrative Service Center at 210 S. Ingram Mill Road. Area businesses
with 40 or more phone books may also call Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland toll-free at 1-
877-312-4764 x1137 or email smcall@girlscoutsmoheartland.org to have a Girl Scout troop
assigned to pick up old phonebooks.
For more information, see the press release.
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