MARCH 2015
CEOupdate A tragic act leads to new opportunities for Sinai As you may recall, last fall I visited many of our service centers to share the disturbing news found in a report called the State of Girls in Indiana. One of the awful statistics found in the report is that one in seven girls will experience violence in her neighborhood. Within just a few months of discussing that topic with community leaders, one of our own Girl Scouts was injured in a drive-by shooting outside of her own apartment. Sinai was on her way to a Girl Scout meeting when she was shot, and within hours her tragic story was on the local news. And that following day, Sinai’s story had spread to California, Canada, Australia and many points in between. Girl Scouts from our community, from coast to coast and across the globe rallied to show their support for Sinai. They wrote letters, sent care packages, and did everything they could to show their love for Sinai. The community showed their support, too, asking how to purchase cookies from this little girl who the media said was shot on her way to pick up her Girl Scout
Cookies. We found a parent who worked at Amazon Fulfillment in Whitestown, and she helped us forge a relationship with the company to help fulfill these cookie orders. Amazon was a terrific partner, and they even invited Sinai’s troop to their fulfillment center for a tour and to help pack the cookies side-by-side with Amazon volunteers. The shooting on February 3 was a senseless act of violence. Sinai and her family are grateful for the support shown to them since the tragedy. She has never had the opportunity to travel outside of Marion County, so her troop is planning a trip with their cookie proceeds. Right: Sinai with Brent Yoder, senior opeations manager at Amazon’s IND1 center. Bottom: Amazon fulfillment associates in Whitestown, Ind. celebrate with Sinai (middle) after her Girl Scout troop helped fulfill customer orders for Girl Scout cookies. Amazon fulfillment associates volunteered to prepare orders of Girl Scout cookies for Sinai, who was recently injured in a random shooting. Amazon fulfillment center in Whitestown has thousands of full-time employees.
This never should have happened, but through the community’s support Sinai and her sister Girl Scouts will have many positive experiences to help alleviate this very real fear of violence, and shape their young lives. Sincerely, Deborah A. Hearn Smith Chief Executive Officer