2024 Dessert First Program

FIRST

february 29, 2024 chase park plaza royal sonesta

welcome to dessert first

On behalf of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, thank you for joining us on Leap Day to honor the individuals and organizations whose passion for Girl Scouting has made a direct impact on our eastern Missouri Girl Scouts and communities. Tonight, we celebrate the achievements of exceptional three Gold Award Girl Scouts, Ryan Harper, Natalie Hendren, and Julie Meritt. These young women earned the highest community service award in Girl Scouting by generating solutions to real-world challenges with measurable and sustainable results. Earning the Gold Award represents a culmination of more than eighty hours of work, which can span months to even years—ultimately leaving a lasting impact on individuals, organizations, neighborhoods, schools and communities. These girls are creating a brighter future for us all! We are also thrilled to recognize this year’s four outstanding Legacy Builders: Neal Spencer, Spire, Saint Louis Public School District and United Way of Greater St. Louis. Each of these Legacy Builders has played a significant role in making skill-building programming and holistic opportunities accessible to all girls, and we celebrate their partnership and support. Thank you to our many generous sponsors and event patrons. Your support provides our organization the ability to create transformative and innovative experiences, connecting the girl of today with critical resources that will equip her with courage, confidence, and character as she develops into a leader of tomorrow. We greatly appreciate and commend the hard work and commitment of our Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri staff, who have ensured this event’s ongoing success. We would also like to extend our appreciation to the talented chefs who generously invest their culinary skills in support of the best leadership development program for girls in the world. Whether it be your time, talent or treasure, all invaluable contributions this evening will encourage girls everywhere to discover their untapped potential and soar higher. We thank you for and appreciate your commitment to enhancing the lives of girls across eastern Missouri.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS Dawn L. Kotva, Board Chair

Kimberly Hodge-Bell, 1st Vice Chair Jenny M. Bartlow, 2nd Vice Chair Vicki Dawkins, Secretary Mike Kiefer, Treasurer

MEMBERS AT LARGE Laurel “Buff” Burkel

Lisa Bell-Reim Michael Dozier Eric Eoloff Kalen Fumagalli Meghana Hebbar* Christine Iovaldi Julie Leverenz Keith Marty Sonni Nolan Thuy Vi Quach-Braig Jeff Steiner Anastasia Stevenson Mikayla Woods*

*Girl Board Member

Natissia Small, Ed.D. Chief Executive Officer Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

Dawn L. Kotva Board Chair Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

event program

6 PM Cocktails and Dessert Tasting

7 PM Dinner Service Begins

Please enjoy your salad once seated

7:15 PM Welcome

Emcees: Julie Tristan and Jazmyn Ferguson

Dr. Natissia Small, CEO, GSEM and Dawn L. Kotva, Board Chair, GSEM

Chef Appreciation: Michelle Johnson, Director of Product Programs, GSEM Chef People’s Choice Award

8 PM Award Presentation

Corporate Legacy Builder: Spire Accepted by Jessica Willingham, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Spire Community Legacy Builder: United Way of Greater St. Louis Accepted by Michelle Tucker, President and CEO, United Way of Greater St. Louis

Individual Legacy Builder: Neal Spencer Accepted by Neal Spencer, retired Partner and CEO, BKD

Education Legacy Builder: Saint Louis Public School District Accepted by Dr. Millicent Borishade, Chief of Schools, Saint Louis Public School District

Scholarship Awardees: Ryan Harper, Natalie Hendren, Julie Meritt

8:30 PM Impact Presentation

9 PM More Desserts

meet our emcees

Julie Tristan Julie is the Morning Show Host on 102.5 KEZK’s “Julie & Friends” 6-10 am and she does afternoons 1-4 pm on Y98 FM. She’s also a producer and narrator for HEC Media’s Emmy Award Winning TV show “Spotlight STL” which airs on KPLR 11, Sundays at 9:30 am.

She has six senior rescue dogs and has fond memories being a Daisy and Brownie Girl Scout growing up.

I have the best memories of being a Girl Scout from selling cookies to learning how to camp to earning badges! What a great way to meet new friends and learn skills that help me in life! I’m proud to support an organization that helps young women in so many ways. “

Jazmyn Ferguson Jazmyn, a St. Louis native, is preparing to earn her Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame Law School in May and will return to St. Louis this fall to begin her legal career. Prior to law school, Jazmyn began her career as a sales consultant at LinkedIn in Chicago, the largest professional networking platform in the world. As a lifetime Girl Scout, current President of Engagement for GSEM’s new Young Professionals Association, first ever Dessert First Scholarship recipient and a past GSEM board member, Girl Scout green runs through her veins.

“ I’m proud to support Girl Scouts because the organization, as it did for me, offers its members a supportive environment and an exceptional opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Go anywhere worth going.

Emerson is proud to support Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.

sponsors

PRESENTING SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSORS

Chris & Jenny Bartlow

Susan & Stuart Keck

Dawn L. Kotva

BRONZE SPONSORS

P ALMER & C AY

SPECIAL THANKS

TABLE SPONSORS

Borgmeyer Marketing Group Daugherty Business Solutions

Little Black Book: Women in Business Lindenwood University Cynthia Martin Maryland Heights Fire Protection District and Camp Fury STL

Deborah Slagle St. Louis Community College Thuy Vi Quach-Braig

Delta Dental Nance Frost Kozeny Wagner, Inc.

gsem in 2023

2,883 Girl Scouts served through Community Troop Program and Girl Scouts Beyond Bars These programs bring the traditional troop experience to under resourced communities through staff-led specialty troops.

36,000 Total Girl Scout members teamed up to support and advance the Girl Scout mission

52% of Girl Scouts benefitted from scholarships for programs, membership and/or uniform assistance.

605 Girl Scouts from eastern Missouri earned their Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards

1.3 million Personal Care Items Collected During April Showers

April Showers is our annual Council-wide community service project. Girl Scouts and their families collect personal care items for local families and individuals in need.

gsem in 2023

In 2023, GSEM launched new programming opportunities that focused on socio-emotional well-being, professional development, and post secondary planning. By partnering with educational institutions and expert organizations, our expanded program offerings allow our middle and high school Girl Scouts to dream big and then put those plans into action to achieve their goals. Through providing prescriptive mentoring, job shadowing, and cultural enrichment programming, these year-round opportunities provide all girls, with necessary skills to navigate the college and career pathways successfully.

58,583 Total Badges Earned Girl Scout Four Pillars: • STEM • Life Skills • Entrepreneurship • Camp/the Outdoors

332 Daisy Troops received Daisy Drop Box

128 Brownie Troops received Brownie Bundle The Daisy Drop Box and Brownie Bundle are mailed to the home of volunteer troop leaders and includes all of the supplies and instructions needed to host one troop meeting per month.

15,126 Camp Experiences

2.2 million+ Cookie Packages Sold 94,000+ Cookie Packages Donated to USO of Missouri and Operation Food Search

legacy builders

United Way of Greater St. Louis The United Way of Greater St. Louis will receive the 2024 Community Legacy Builder Award in recognition of their dedication to helping build a strong community through their generous support of high-performing nonprofit organizations. By naming Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri as a Safety Net Agency, the United Way of Greater St. Louis has provided stable and consistent support of the organization to ensure resources and help are there when our Girl Scouts and their families need it the most. The impact of the United Way of Greater St. Louis’ invaluable support extends far beyond the organization to include access to their 211 network and Volunteer Center, as well as trainings for non-profit professionals. Neal Spencer Neal Spencer, retired Partner and CEO with BKD, now FORVIS, will receive the 2024 Individual Legacy Builder Award in honor of his long-standing support of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s annual giving campaign, Gifts for Girls. Neal’s support has provided countless Girl Scouts with the financial resources necessary to ensure they have access to programs and experiences that prepare them as critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers, community stewards and ready leaders. As a Partner in Leadership for close to a decade, Neal has played an important role in Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s ability to build and sustain a network of committed partners who are contributing their personal resources to empower our future leaders and ensure a brighter tomorrow for us all. Spire Spire will receive the 2024 Corporate Legacy Builder Award in recognition of their commitment to Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri as evidenced by their extensive support of camp property improvement projects through the Her Future is Our Future Comprehensive Campaign, including the restoration of trails at Camp Fiddlecreek. Spire’s support made possible a 2.5-mile trail restoration project at Camp Fiddlecreek that offers a variety of experiences for explorers of varying abilities. Spire is committed to having a positive, measurable impact on the world around us and their commitment extends far beyond financial support. As part of their “Day for Good” program, volunteers from Spire have continued to perform routine trail maintenance and brush removal at two of our regional Girl Scout camps to ensure the sustainability of the trails, woodlands, pastures and fencing for girls today and long into the future. Saint Louis Public School District The Saint Louis Public School District (SLPS) will receive the 2024 Education Legacy Builder in recognition of their dedication to educating and uplifting the next generation of female leaders. Partnering with Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, SLPS has extensively integrated Girl Scout programming into their K-12 schools through volunteer-led troop experiences, staff-led community troop experiences and short-term outreach programming. All girls have dreams, and Girl Scouts and SLPS work closely together to help them have the tools and support they need to make those dreams come true. By providing Girl Scout programming that aligns with SLPS standards and curriculum, girls in the school district can explore subjects ranging from STEM and the outdoors to life skills and entrepreneurship, making them natural leaders in the classroom, at home and in their communities.

Invest in Girl Scouts! Here’s How: 1. Raise your program at the giving level that speaks to you! 2. Text GSEM to 243725 to make your gift tonight with your credit card. 3. Write a check and hand to a volunteer at the end of the evening or at the check-out table on your way out. 4. Complete the pledge card located in your program and hand to a volunteer at the end of the evening or at the check-out table on your way out.

Donate Now!

scholarship awardees

Gold Award Girl Scouts are changemakers. They have changed the world, changed their lives, and earned the most prestigious award in Girl Scouting. To earn the Gold Award, a Girl Scout identifies an issue in their community, drafts a plan to address a root cause, and leads a team of volunteers to implement it. When the project is complete, the Gold Award Girl Scout and their team have made a sustainable impact on the world that continues to last beyond their involvement. In 2023, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri honored 25 Gold Award Girl Scouts in a special ceremony, Reflections. Held in June each year, Reflections celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of all Gold Award Girl Scouts.

For many, the Gold Award has opened doors to scholarships, preferred college admission tracks, and amazing career opportunities. Changemaker Scholarship At Dessert First, we celebrate the leadership and service of outstanding Girl Scouts and award three Changemaker Scholarships of $5,000 to be used for higher education. All Gold Award Girl Scouts honored at the Reflections ceremony are automatically considered for this scholarship opportunity. These scholarships are made possible by the generous support of Laurna Godwin in memory of Corrynne Godwin, the William R. Orthwein and Laura Rand Ortwein Foundation, and Penny Pennington and Michael Fidler.

Ryan Harper 2024 Awardee, Changemaker Scholarship made possible by Laurna Godwin in memory of Corrynne Godwin

Ryan Harper, a freshman at Truman State University, demonstrated extraordinary leadership through a measurable and sustainable community service project to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award. Moved by the increased gun violence affecting American students, Ryan decided to address the issue of gun safety for those in her community. Ryan created a video and presentation to teach local students and youth groups the safety steps to follow if they encounter a firearm, how to properly put on a gun lock and tips for creating safer homes. Ryan created two separate presentations, one for her classmates and one geared toward younger children. In the second presentation, Ryan lists the four steps everyone should follow when seeing an unattended gun. After the presentations, she gave the adults who attended donated gun locks. Ryan’s video and presentation has been uploaded to the Top Ladies of Distinction St. Louis chapter website, where the group will continue to promote the project in the future.

scholarship awardees

Julie Meritt 2024 Awardee, Changemaker Scholarship made possible by Penny Pennington and Michael Fidler in honor of every girl making her mark on the world! Julie Meritt, a junior at Timberland High School, recognized the struggles children with a limb-length discrepancy face while navigating life and the anxiety of surgery. To increase resources for patients with this condition, Julie decided to partner with Shriners Children’s St. Louis and create a children’s book on the condition to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award. A limb-length discrepancy is when one leg or arm is shorter than the other. Treatment for this condition often involves lengthening surgery and intensive physical therapy. Julie’s book, Brooke’s Big Surgery, follows a character with a leg-length discrepancy as she goes through her first surgery. Julie illustrates what fellow patients can expect during their treatment and provides a list of other media, including characters with disabilities and advice from fellow patients. After completing the book, Julie translated it to Spanish and uploaded both versions as a free ebook. She then provided Shriners Children’s St. Louis with 165 English and 200 Spanish hard copies of the book. Julie also mailed a hard copy of each to the other 17 Shriners Children’s Hospital locations, including one in Canada and one in Mexico. Finally, Julie applied vinyl inspirational messages to 18 clinic room walls at Shriners Children’s St. Louis to encourage patients. After learning that more than 800,000 cats are euthanized and abandoned every year, Natalie partnered with Five Acres Animal Shelter to create two animated videos, “How to Care for Your Cat!” and “Understanding Your Cat” to help individuals learn more about the animals and encourage them to adopt. For the videos, Natalie planned and sketched out the storyboard, animated the video and recorded a voiceover. Five Acres Animal Shelter shared the videos on their social channels. Natalie then uploaded the videos to YouTube and shared them with local shelters to utilize with their future outreach efforts. In addition to the videos, Natalie also cleaned, decorated, and painted four cat boxes to help draw attention to cats in need of a forever home. Five Acres Animal Shelter will continue to maintain the cat boxes to use for the years to come. Natalie Hendren 2024 Awardee, Changemaker Scholarship made possible by the William R. Orthwein and Laura Rand Orthwein Foundation Natalie Hendren, a freshman at University of Missouri, set out to support unadopted cats and dismiss stereotypes to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award.

participating chefs

BOWOOD BY NICHE Suji Shaw, Executive Pastry Chef bowoodbyniche.com

BAILEYS’ RESTAURANTS Amanda Jaspering, Pastry Chef baileysrestaurants.com

BUTLER’S PANTRY Samantha Pliler, Kitchen Manager butlerspantry.com

THE CHASE PARK PLAZA ROYAL SONESTA Sara Alderson, Pastry Sous Chef sonesta.com

CAKE SNOB Nichol Gordon, Caketress cakesnobstl.com

GRACE MEAT + THREE Kenny Kiel, Chef stlgrace.com

LITTLE SAIGON CAFE Michael Ly, Head Chef/Owner saigoncafestl.com

MCARTHUR’S BAKERY Angela Dinkelman, Head Cake Decorator mcarthurs.com

IDOL WOLF Matthew Daughaday, Executive Chef idolwolfstl.com

PROPEL KITCHENS Issac Hardwrict, Culinary Director propelkitchens.org

MOMMA BOOGIE’S SMALL BATCH CAKERY Amber J. West, Baker/Owner mommaboogies.com

PATTY’S CHEESECAKES Pat Upchurch, Head Chef/Owner pattyscheesecakes.com

SERENDIPITY HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

YOLKLORE Mary Hancock, Chef/Owner yolklore.com

Beckie Jacobs, Chef/Owner serendipity-icecream.com

Pick up the new issue of

SPRING INTO STL’S FOOD SCENE Check out our 2024 spring quarterly issue for the freshest food industry news, recipes and more. Learn how to meal prep like a pro, explore the charming wine-country town of Augusta, Missouri, take a behind-the-scenes look at classic soda company Excel Bottling, and meet local chefs and makers from your favorite STL spots.

Inspired Local Food Culture

SPRING 2024

St. Louis’ SANDWICH SCENE

A Weekend in AUGUSTA

The Evolution of EXCEL BOTTLING

MEAL PREP Mastering

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WHERE CAN YOU FIND FEAST? Pick up a copy of the spring issue in the March 3 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or visit stltoday.com/subscribe to have Feast delivered to your home.

feastmagazine.com

We are Proud to Support Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

Hermann, MO

Bright tomorrows start with

doing good today.

Ameren Missouri is honored to partner with Girls Scouts of Eastern Missouri to celebrate Dessert First. The Girls Scouts make our community brighter by helping build girls of courage, con dence and character.

AmerenMissouri.com

Dedicated to providing quality products to

Connecting Your World!

for their Fall Product Program

Girl Scouts of Eastern MO, nurturing tomorrow's leaders. att.com

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The world starts with your community We are committed to building brighter futures and that starts with supporting organizations like the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.

Husch Blackwell is proud to sponsor Dessert First 2024. We celebrate the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri and its mission to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. Energizing Impact

edwardjones.com/purposeinaction

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MEMBER SIPC

CEA-15905-B © 2024 EDWARD D. JONES & CO., L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. AESCAP

We’re proud to support the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri in building strong, confident, courageous girls who make the world a better place. Working together to build a strong future for girls

Spire is honored to be recognized as the 2024 Corporate Legacy Builder.

SpireEnergy.com

umsl.edu /admissions

Unbox the Future There are plenty of easy ways to feed your Girl Scout Cookie® cravings this season. And no matter how you choose to get your cookies, you’ll be supporting local Girl Scouts on their mission to make the world a better place. Scan the QR code find cookie booth sales near you or to discover a local troop that’s selling cookies online. Grab some boxes for yourself, family, friends, or co-workers. Donate Girl Scout Cookies to military personnel and veterans, people in need, and those who help keep our community safe through Project Thank You. girlscoutsem.org/cookies

Women’s Leadership Network Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) provides women a forum to support one another on their leadership journeys while working with Girl Scouts to mentor and inspire the next generation of female leaders.

The WLN offers programs, events and volunteer opportunities to connect women with each other and Girl Scouts. Membership is free and open to all adults.

Join Today!

Scan the QR code or visit girlscoutsem.org/wln .

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