2025 GSEM Adult Recognition Handbook

AntRabbit Award for Camping Excellence

Award Description: The AntRabbit Award for Camping Excellence recognizes a 15-year+ camp volunteer whose exemplary service and leadership made a lasting and measurable impact on the council’s camping program.

Submission Example:

I have worked closely with Sally Girlscout for over 35 years. Almost every experience we had together was camping- and nature-related. Sally, Mary Camper, and I created and first taught the Camp Nature Center Friends course so that volunteers could learn how to incorporate all that the Camp Nature Center has to offer into their troop camp experiences. Sally chaired the Camp Conservation committee for nearly a decade. She oversaw the development of and put in her own sweat equity on several new trails around the Camp Nature Center, including Bunny Hop, Pine Lookout, and Foggy Pond. Under her leadership, that committee laid out specific areas of our camps called Natural Areas that are meant to showcase and preserve the natural beauty of the area. Sally developed or co-developed several sustained camp programs for troops to enjoy, including the following: • Activity-in-a-Box program: Grab and go activity boxes for all of our camps • Pathfinder program: Taught troops to build and maintain trails at all of our camps • Interpretive Trail Backpack program: Engaging information and activities in convenient backpacks to help troops make the most of the Amazing Forest interpretive trail at Camp Deepwood Sally’s foremost goal in Girl Scouting has been to promote camping and nature to all Girl Scouts at all levels, and to train adults to share their knowledge and love for nature with their troops. To quote an unknown author “even a small pebble dropped into a pond makes a big ripple.” Sally has been so much more than a small pebble. The ripples she created are still being felt today as a testament to the impact her leadership, service, and far-reaching ideas continue to have on our council’s camps. She has been my mentor and valued friend for all of these years. I have learned much, shared much, and have had a good bit of fun with Sally. She is the perfect candidate for the AntRabbit Award for Camping Service Excellence. Through her long-running programs, Sally made it easy for volunteers to bring their troops to camp by having fun and meaningful activities ready and waiting for them.

Adult Recognition Handbook 26