Girl Scouts are dedicated to raising up girls and helping them become confident, effective leaders who will make positive impacts on their communities.

Girl Scouts of troop number 887 are fulfilling this vision in their community. Senior and president of troop 887 Jackie Murray emphasizes the building of important life skills as well as empowering girls to learn new skills. For older, more experienced scouts like Murray, who has been involved in Girl Scouts for 12 years, being a scout mostly involves mentoring and planning events for younger girls.

“We as a troop do a lot of community service,” Murray said. “We teach the younger girls how to keep the environment clean, how to plan events, sell products, how to respect others and ourselves. We teach others about girl empowerment and how vital it is to ‘be a sister to every Girl Scout.”

Senior Rae Holcomb, who is from the same troop as Murray, has been a part of her troop for 13 years.

“Girl Scouts is all about developing the skills to learn to be a good citizen and an effective leader. This involves everything from organizing events for the community to fun things such as campouts, boating and sleepovers,”  Holcomb said.

For ambassador-level scouts (scouts in grades 11-12) like Murray and Holcomb, community service and mentoring younger scouts is what constitutes most of their involvement with the troop. However, they have also learned and gained many valuable skills from their years in Girl Scout programs.

“Girl Scouts has definitely helped shape the person I am today. It has taught me how to speak in public, communicate professionally and budgeting,” Holcomb said. “I love the community I have found within Girl Scouts. There are so many incredible people involved with it, and I have met some of my best friends through Girl Scout programs.”

“I think I have learned how to manage events, and I have really learned what it takes to plan an event successfully through my troop. These are skills I can use for the rest of my life,” Murray said.