May Our Promise Newsletter

Our Promise June 2024

Dear Girl Scout Friends and Supporters, Welcome to the June edition of Our Promise ! As we move into summer, I am filled with gratitude and pride for all that we have accomplished together during my first year as CEO for Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri. We have intentionally remained focused on our mission of building girls with courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. The tremendous experiences and meaningful connections with our Girl Scouts, staff, caregivers, volunteers, and community partners across the council’s jurisdiction has been key to the many accomplishments made thus far! Throughout the past year, we have begun a journey towards significantly increasing the intentional and relevant support that the organization provides our Girl Scout members. One of my focus areas upon arrival has been to implement holistic and comprehensive programming that touches every Girl Scout throughout eastern Missouri. Through working collaboratively with our education, and community partners, we are building a stronger foundation to support all Girl Scouts and their families in the areas of mentorship, professional skill building, post-secondary planning, and socio-emotional support. Read more on our recent historical collaboration with Missouri State University on pg. 5!

In addition to Our Promise , you are also receiving our 2023 Impact Report . Over the past year, we have taken major strides in expanding our reach, enhancing our programs, and deepening our impact in all communities we serve. These accomplishments are a testament to the collaborative work, dedication, and resilience of our staff, volunteers and amazing donors who have fueled the ability to present innovative and sustainable experiences to girls throughout eastern Missouri. Be on the lookout for our newly-formatted donor publication to debut this fall! With expanded articles we will have the opportunity to uplift more stories about our eastern Missouri Girl Scouts and the expansive network of supporters. I sincerely thank you for making my first year as CEO an unforgettable experience. Together, we will help all girls everywhere soar higher. Much success,

Natissia Small, Ed.D. CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri

Welcome Brenda Marsian, Chief Philanthropy Officer

In March, Brenda Marsian, CFRE, joined Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri as the Chief Philanthrophy Officer, bringing with her a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to our mission. Brenda most recently served as the Vice President for Development & Communications at Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, Connecticut, where she led a dynamic team of six in successfully raising over $6 million annually in operating support. Brenda also played a pivotal role in creating a $5 million individual giving plan to diversify revenue by targeting wealth in key Hartford suburbs. Prior to Boys & Girls Club of Hartford, Brenda was the Chief Development Officer at Wakeman Boys & Girls Club where she successfully concluded a $24 million capital campaign. While at Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA, Brenda led a $12.35 million campaign that infused much needed dollars for an all-girls camp and all-boys camp and she led a $40 million comprehensive campaign for Springfield College. Brenda possesses a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Hartford, a Bachelor of Arts in English from Western New England University and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). Both Brenda and her husband, John Kaufhold, CFO at Lindenwood University, and their son Shawn have relocated to St. Louis from the East Coast and are excited to be a part of the eastern Missouri community. “I am overjoyed to welcome Brenda to Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri,” said Dr. Natissia Small, CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri. “She brings a wealth of experience, advocating for young people through fundraising efforts. We are so fortunate to have Brenda join our team and help support our girls develop into strong leaders of tomorrow.”

“I am thrilled to join Dr. Small and the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri in their mission to empower girls through philanthropic support. GSEM’s dedication to girls’ development is truly commendable, and I am eager to establish new partnerships with individuals, corporations, and foundations to further their impact. I am honored to take on this important role and eager to contribute to GSEM’s continued success.”

-Brenda Marsian, CFRE, Chief Philanthrophy Officer, GSEM

Representative Assembly & Volunteer Recognitions

On March 23, 2024, Girl Scout members, volunteers, staff and board members met at Edward Jones for our annual Representative Assembly and Volunteer Recognition Ceremony. Representative Assembly is the annual business meeting for Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri and includes reports by the Board Chair, Board Treasurer and staff, as well as the installation of members to the Board of Directors, Board Development Committee, National Council Delegates and District/Neighborhood Managers. Volunteer Recognitions is a celebration of council-level award honorees, recognizing them for exceptional service performed during the 2023 membership year.

Welcome New Board Member

Alexandria Seay Employee Communications Manager, LinkedIn Alexandria is the Employee Communications Manager for the engineering and product teams at LinkedIn where she engages employees and senior leaders to connect, collaborate, and develop strategic messaging. Alexandria uses her passion for writing, connecting dots and strategy to help empower employees to complete their best work. Alexandria has her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master of Arts from Lindenwood University. “Girl Scouts has always held a special place in my heart. It’s where I was first introduced to entrepreneurship, leadership, and I even met one of my lifelong best friends as a Brownie. I’m excited to now serve the council where my love for Girl Scouts began and to help girls across Eastern Missouri to have similar experiences.”

Dessert First Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri annual gala, Dessert First, held at The Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta on February 29, had close to 500 guests in attendance and began with Girl Scout Cookie-inspired desserts created by 13 local chefs. Chef Pat Upchurch from Patty’s Cheesecakes won the night’s People’s Choice award using the Lemon-Ups Girl Scout Cookie in her culinary creation. Dinner and the program followed the desserts, emceed by Julie Tristan, morning show host on 102.5 KEZK’s “Julie and Friend’s” and Jazmyn Ferguson, Girl Scout alum. During the program, GSEM recognized three Gold Award Girl Scouts, Ryan Harper, Julie Meritt and Natalie Hendren, for their leadership and service with $5,000 Changemaker Scholarships. GSEM also honored four Legacy Builders, chosen because of their enormous support and commitment to advancing the Girl Scout mission. Neal Spencer received the 2024 Individual Legacy Builder Award, Spire received the 2024 Corporate Legacy Builder Award, United Way of Greater St. Louis received the 2024 Community Legacy Builder Award, and the St. Louis Public School District received the 2024 Education Legacy Builder Award.

Scan the QR code to see more event photos and awardee videos!

girlscoutsem.org/ dessertfirst

Edward Jones Adventure Center Ribbon Cutting Girl Scouts can now experience the newly completed Edward Jones Adventure Center where they can run, skip, hop, jump and play in the outdoors! On April 21, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri members, staff and supporters gathered to celebrate the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new Edward Jones Adventure Center, made possible through the generosity of Edward Jones in their support of the Her Future is Our Future Comprehensive Campaign. The Edward Jones Adventure Center, located at Camp Tuckaho in Troy, MO, was a two-part project, involving the creation of a new High Ropes Challenge Course, as well an Adventure Center with free play structures, so Girl Scouts of all ages can enjoy self-propelled and unique play experiences. Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri is grateful for the support of Edward Jones. Edward Jones embodies a community mindset, and their commitment is evident through their long-standing support of local organizations.

GSEM is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Missouri State University to make postsecondary education more accessible for our more than 25,000 girl members across eastern Missouri. The new freshman scholarship is an annual, renewable award of $2,000 for GSEM Girl Scouts. GSEM is committed to providing all girls with the academic enrichment, socio-emotional support and life skills needed to succeed in college and careers. This scholarship is an important component of the organization’s holistic support of all members. New Missouri State Scholarship Supports eastern Missouri Girl Scouts

Girl Scout Cookies

In January, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri kicked off the 2024 Girl Scout Cookie Season, the annual program in which Girl Scouts unbox their future through the world’s largest entrepreneurial program for girls.

During this program, girls flex their entrepreneurial muscles and acquire important life skills like money management, team building, public speaking and decision making. When a community member purchases their favorite cookies, they are fueling opportunities for girls to participate in amazing adventures like overnight camp, innovative programs and community service projects.

In 2024, the Girl Scout Cookie Program achieved:

13,400+ Girl Scouts participated

76,900+ cookies donated by customers

2.1 Million+ packages sold

$2.1 Million+ troop proceeds

Brighten Your Booth During Girl Scout Cookie booths, troops get creative with a theme or awesome setup to communicate their goals to customers.

“The Girl Scout Cookie program has taught me so much about economics, sales, and customer service, and how to be comfortable meeting new people.” -Millie, Girl Scout Cadette

New Program: Flour Rangers! Milling Flour for Girl Scout Cookies

On January 26-27, 2024, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri launched a new and innovative program, “Flour Rangers! Milling Flour for Girl Scout Cookies,” in collaboration with industry experts Ardent Mills, Grain Craft, and the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM). During the program, Girl Scouts in grades K-12 interacted directly with professional flour millers from across the country and learned how to grind and process flour for many different products, including Girl Scout Cookies, through fun activities. The activities included grinding wheat with a hand mill; making cookies with two different types of flour to see the difference in protein content; and gluten washing, which is washing a dough ball in water, leaving just a gluten ball at the end. At the completion of the program, more than 90 eastern Missouri girls earned the organization’s first flour milling patch. Girl Scouts also discovered more about potential milling career paths and industry opportunities. They heard from current professionals about the different careers that are available in the milling industry like sales, quality assurance, management, training, and milling. They also discovered the different types of training and education available from a current student at Kansas State University, the only university that offers a four-year B.S. degree in Milling Science and Management. Girl Scouts were able to see the connection between all these career paths and their current Girl Scout Cookie businesses. “I really enjoyed participating in this program and as an avid baker myself I learned so much. I now know what goes in to milling all the different varieties of flour and that gives me more knowledge to power my hobby and interest.” -Aria, Girl Scout Cadette

FLOUR RANGER

Girl Scouts Make The World A Better Place

On April 5, Girl Scouts across eastern Missouri kicked off April Showers, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s largest community service program. Girl Scouts, their troop leaders, and families went door-to-door distributing sticky notes throughout the community with the request for personal care product donations.

During Showering the Community on Saturday, April 6, Girl Scouts and other volunteers were out at local storefronts encouraging customers to purchase personal care items to donate while they shopped.

The following Saturday, April 13, Girl Scouts returned to collect the donations left on porches and sorted thousands of personal care items at multiple drop-off sites throughout the St. Louis metro.

Thank You April Shower Sponsors!

A Special Thanks To:

Making The Future Brighter

The Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards are the highest honors Girl Scouts can earn. By leading their communities and working on issues they care about, our highest awardees are making their world and futures brighter.

Girl Scout Bronze Award: Clothing Drive

Girl Scout Silver Award: Layla Learns to Scout

Molly Hoffman, Addie Mayes and Kiki Soucy partnered with RedBike Outreach to provide gently used clothing to local families by hosting clothing drives at local churches. These young changemakers set up collection bins, wrote bulletin notices and created yard signs to promote the drive. Once all donations were collected, the girls sorted everything by gender, size and type of clothing and delivered the items.

Patricia Bratton, Olivia Carleton, Mariah Creighton, Olivia Dalton, Adeline Law, and Ella Rice wrote and illustrated a book, Layla Learns to Scout, to share the benefits of Girl Scouting with prospective families in a new way. These young changemakers printed 30 copies of their book and attended Girl Scout recruitment events to read their story, play games, and teach the attendees traditional Girl Scout songs.

Girl Scout Gold Award: Light Pollution After learning how light pollution negatively affects bird migration, biodiversity, and even human health issues, among other impacts, Ella Mackinson, a 2023 graduate of Lindbergh High School, partnered with DarkSky Missouri to develop an educational brochure to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award. The brochure covers what light pollution is, why it matters, and what we can do to minimize its effects. Once she completed her brochure, Mackinson hosted booths at local community events, including the Earth Day Festival, Owl-o-Ween at World Bird Sanctuary, and the Astronomy Festival. Mackinson then shared copies of her brochures to several organizations: Lights Out Heartland and the James S. McDonnell Planetarium at the Saint Louis Science Center. “I had never organized or carried out a project of this scale before so getting to do so was personally rewarding,” said Mackinson. “It’s really inspiring, and I feel this has made me realize I can make a difference with hard work, planning and the right mindset.”

Girl Scout Alumni

Susan Barley is a Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri alum, a former troop leader and a long-time supporter.

In Girl Scouts, a uniform is a storybook. Susan Barley’s uniform is a colorful tale of leadership, fun, and a lifetime of happy memories.

While Susan splits her time between Florida and St. Louis, she is not able to give her time as much, but she makes sure she gives to the Gift for Girls Campaign. “I feel good about giving. I got a lot from Girl Scouts, and I should give back. This is my thank you for all the wonderful memories Girl Scouts has given me and I want other girls to have the same experience and feel the same way I do.” As Girl Scouts, we were told all things were possible. We were encouraged to dream, to figure out how to make it happen, and work together to achieve our goals. The same is true with being an adult volunteer. We weren’t told how to volunteer; we were given the autonomy to come up with new ideas and then jump in and figure out how to make something happen for our girls. It was fun. “ ” Join Susan and support the Gift for Girls Campaign

From her seven years as a Girl Scout to becoming her daughter’s Brownie Troop Leader in 1974, Susan has been giving her time, talent, and treasure to Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri. “Working with the girls you could see how leadership can be cultivated even for those girls who didn’t go on to be the leaders of the world. Girl Scouts develops confidence and a can-do attitude,” reflects Susan who has been the recipient of the Gold Laurel, Thanks Badge, and Thanks Badge II. A Lifetime Member of Girl Scouts, Susan welcomed additional responsibility on the troop, neighborhood, district, and council levels and was eventually invited to join the Board of Directors. She and her husband Bob led the Family Phase of the Spark the Fire Campaign, one of the first fundraising campaigns for GSEM. These experiences provided opportunities for Susan to attend trainings at the Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University and the Edith Macy Center where she earned certification to be an Instructor-of Trainers, both experiences opening her eyes to all that goes into stewarding a nonprofit. She also chaired the Council’s Volunteer Personal Committee. “Sparking the Fire was the first-time Girl Scout families were being asked to give money and we got the reaction, ‘Wait a minute I do this, I do that, why are you asking me to give money.’ If something happens to the Cookie program what happens to the Girl Scouts?” asks Susan, who is a long-standing Golden Trefoil Society member.

vr.girlscoutsem.org/donate

Berges Family Creation and Imagination Station Construction

As of March 21, construction at the Berges Family Creation and Imagination Station is officially underway! Beginning with the dredging of Walker Lake, this first phase is planned for completion in early June 2024. The dredging, which is much needed, will get the lake back to its original depth and improve and extend the recreational life of the lake. Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri is providing members the opportunity to watch what is happening at the construction site. A camera that provides a live feed of activities has been installed. It will be filming 24/7 through all phases of construction. Check out the live feed at girlscoutsem.org/herfutureisourfuture .

With sincerest appreciation and gratitude, we recognize those who made a memorial or tribute gift to Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri from October 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024. Memorials and Tributes

In honor of Mary Ann Altergott Mignonne and Brian Ashworth The Prairie Family

In memory of Luevenia Foster Kathleen Foster

In memory of Suzanne V. McSwain Frances Tietov and Elliot Elson Lauren McSwain

In memory of Julia Scott Michael and Patricia McKinnis The Residents’ Association at The Gatesworth

In memory of Marilyn R. Fox Jo Ann Taylor Kindle Carolyn W. Losos

In Honor of Bonnie E. Barczykowski

In memory of Luella Perry Lisa Atchley

In memory of Norma Smith Gail Matson

Susan McCollum Penny Pennington

In memory of Emily Hencke Gail Hencke

In Memory of Jenny Ploch Janet Ploch

In memory of Lee Sommer Dianne Lange

In honor of Norma Behrens Gwenn Behrens

In memory of Terrie J. Hetz Kathy Dabrowski

In memory of Eugene and Barbara Rathert Sharon Young In memory of Mary Delores Reich Virginia Reed In honor of Overnight Camp Staff The Prairie Family In memory of Kimberly Ann Schweig Anonymous (3) Donna Filkins Norma Gesellschap Roger and Susan Jespersen

In memory of Sr. Girl Scout Mariner Troop The Galaxy- Mrs. Paris Susan and Lawrence Quick In memory of Elsie St. Cyr Mrs. E. Katherine St. Cyr and Mr. Peter H. Hubbell

In memory of Judy Behrman Laurie DeBeer

In memory of Pam Hutcheson Robin Murphy

In honor of Talia Marcelle Bennett Christina and Vincent Bennett

In honor of Dawn L. Kotva Mr. and Dr. Robert Schuette

In memory of Daisy Jane Bown

In memory of Yvonne Thompson Regina Johnson

In memory of Mina Kristen Karen Palmieri

In honor of Amy DeSart Michelle Henson

In Memory of Natalie Timm Debbie Powell

In memory of Audrey Maixner Debbie Byrd

In Memory of Marie A. Difani Maureen Freitag

In memory of Carma Vineyard Allison G. and Bretten R. Kleitz

In memory of Jon Majors Gina Aubuchon

McKelvey Homes Kimberly Ostertag Jody Wallace

In memory of Richard Young Mrs. Delores Garrett

In memory of Karen Duncan Leanne Demmel

In Honor of The Maypop Coffee and Flower Shop Crew Andrew Hicks

In memory of Linda Duvall Thomas Duvall

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri 2300 Ball Dr. St. Louis, MO 63146 314.592.2300

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s Annual Women’s Leadership Network Celebration Luncheon Thursday, June 20, 2024 11 am-1 pm The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis Girl Scouts across eastern Missouri are using their voices to ignite change throughout their communities, schools and nation. During this year’s luncheon, we will uplift the voices of our empowered Girl Scouts, with an interactive Girl Scout panel discussion, moderated by one of our 2024 Gold Awardees, Legacy Jackson. Panelists will share their Girl Scout journeys and how our organization uniquely prepared them for lifetimes of leadership, adventure and success. The event will also include an inspirational look at The Reflection of the Empowered Women—Courage, Confidence, and Character , by keynote speaker, Dr. Natissia Small.

Panel Moderator Legacy Jackson, Girl Scout Senior, 2024 Gold Award Girl Scout

Keynote Speaker Dr. Natissia Small, CEO, GSEM

please rsvp below

vr.girlscoutsem.org/celebrationluncheon