Volunteers throughout our council
help make it happen ...
Tradition of Leadership
Girl Scouts connects girls with adults who guide and inspire
them, but the experience also introduces adults to one another,
forging friendships that last long after their girls graduate.
Elaine Effort and Karla Byrd met when both led Girl Scout
troops. Effort started as a Daisy leader, then led her daughter
April’s Brownie troop. When Byrd’s daughter Catherine was old
enough to join Girl Scouts, she couldn’t wait to get her involved,
and to also get involved herself as the Daisy troop’s leader.
“I’ve always loved
Girl Scouts,” Byrd
says. “I wanted
my daughter
to be a part
of an all-girl
organization
that stressed the
importance of
leadership.”
– Karla Byrd
Their Girl Scouts were among the five troops that met at
Eastminster Presbyterian Church in East Liberty. “For years,
there would be a hundred Girl Scouts spread throughout the church in meeting rooms every Tuesday
night,” Effort recalls. The leaders held end of the year events together and shared best-practices for
leading girls. “Elaine always has great ideas and a deep knowledge of Girl Scouting,” says Byrd, but she
wasn’t the only one inspired by Effort’s know-how. “Whatever Elaine’s girls did, my girls wanted to do,”
laughs Byrd.
Their daughters are now grown, but Effort and Byrd have remained friends and stay connected to the
organization they love. Effort leads Daisy and Brownie Girl Scouts in Homewood and Byrd is a member
GSWPA’s board of directors.
Uncommon Bond
Girl Scouts is for every girl, without barriers placed on ability, race or economic
status. The same is true for our volunteers.
Sharon Bond, a longtime Girl Scout co-leader and volunteer at Camp Hawthorne
Ridge in Erie County, brings boundless energy to the camp’s day camp program, and
she doesn’t let the fact that she’s in a wheelchair slow her down. As Bond guides Girl
Scouts through their camp stay, she inspires them to overcome their own barriers.
“I’ve seen many girls come to camp nervous about trying new things,” Bond said, “They
see me getting in the pool or helping girls through the day’s activities, and soon they are
trying what they once thought wasn’t possible for them.”
Girl Scout Sisters
A year filled with exciting adventures for girls starts with one
day, one meeting, and one role model that shows them they
can accomplish more than they ever imagined. For ten-yearold Kristianna Shearer, that role model is her older sister,
Kimberly McCullough.
McCullough, 24, was a Girl Scout from third grade through her
high school graduation. She has fond memories of fun
adventures to new places. “We traveled a lot,” McCullough
recalled. Through Girl Scouts she traveled to Canada and New
York, but her favorite trip was a visit to Ace Adventure Park in
West Virginia. “That was the best trip ever,” she said.
To ensure that her younger sister had the same
opportunities through Girl Scouts, McCullough signed on as
an assistant leader for her troop. “I had a blast in Girl Scouts,”
she said. “I wante