Welcome to the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois’ website. As we continue to grow and expand our services and programs, we want to ensure that our girls and volunteers have easy access to all these wonderful resources and opportunities. Please continue to give us your feedback so we can continue to improve our website for YOU.
On October 1, 2012, GSSI will complete its third year as a newly integrated council and, thanks to YOU, we have been very successful and achieved more in these last three post-alignment years. I am pleased to share that:
- We have experienced a membership growth for the first time in several years and have successfully reversed the trend in declining membership.
- We have maintained girl membership at 13% of market share and increased our girl and adult retention rate to over 63% -- above the national average.
- We provided over 350 programs and opportunities to girls throughout our council jurisdiction and increased member participation.
- We provided over $175,000 in financial assistance to girls throughout southern Illinois. We have maintained our commitment to provide financial assistance so all girls, regardless of income, have the opportunity to participate in Girl Scouts.
- We have initiated several new programs for our girls, including the Girl Scout Apprentice Program, Cookie Business College and Girl Scouting in Detention Centers.
- We continue to spread Girl Scouting in underserved areas, including East St. Louis and public housing complexes where we served almost 1,200 girls.
- We have made some exciting plans and activities to celebrate our 100th Year Anniversary and hope to have each and every one of you involved in this celebration.
- We have revived our Juliette Gordon Low Society and hope that you will become a Founding Member during this historic 100th Anniversary year.
- We completed a Strategic Planning process and will implement these plans over the next three years.
- We placed increased emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs and involved over 70 girls in robotics competitions.
- We initiated an integrated council-wide collaboration between Membership, Volunteer and Program Departments culminating in the first annual “REFRESH 2011” with 83 volunteers attending and learning new ways to provide a better Girl Scout Leadership Experience for girls.
- We continue to maintain a healthy, balanced budget. We are good stewards of the funds you entrusted to us.
Now, our challenge is to continue this momentum to propel GSSI from being “Good to Great!” As we celebrate our 2011-2012 membership year and Girl Scouting’s 100th Anniversary, we will continue to focus on our girls and our dedicated volunteers. Our goal is to ensure that every girl throughout southern Illinois will have the opportunity to benefit from the Girl Scout Leadership Experience so that she can make a difference in her family, her community, her country and the world. We want to provide an outstanding leadership experience to our members – we want to give our girls what they need in ways they want - and working together with our volunteers, friends and partners, we will continue to build on our successes.
With your continued support, GSSI will continue to provide a premier Girl Scout Leadership Experience for our 14,000 girls and 4,800 adult volunteers.
Thank you
Villie M. Appoo
Chief Executive Officer
The Girl Scout Mission:
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
The Girl Scout Promise:
On my honor, I will try:
to serve God and my country,
to help people at all times,
and to live by the Girl Scout Law.
The Girl Scout Law:
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout. |
