Autumn Issue
Issue 4, Edition 1 Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois
Dear Supporter, We believe that when Girl Scouts succeed, so does society. We provide Girl Scouts with a place to discover their passions, find their voice, and make a positive impact in their communities. These Girl Scouts are building a better world for all of us! Help us ensure every Girl Scout in northern Illinois develops the courage, confidence, and character Girl Scouts nurtures. An investment in Girl Scouting is broader than a cause or a cure. It is a commitment to the next generation of self-sufficient and capable trailblazers.
In this Issue... • Charlie’s Lodge • Upcoming Fund-Raising Events • Thin Mint Sprint • Donor Spotlight
Charlie’s Lodge! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Camp Dean and the presentation of “Charlie’s Lodge”.
Camp Dean’s pondside lodges to Charlie and honor him for his years of dedication to the Girl Scouts and families of GSNI.
GSNI’s Chief Property and Program Officer Charlie Qualls has worked with GSNI and its legacy Councils for over 30 years. As a tribute, GSNI staff and board members wanted to gift the naming rights to one of
This required raising $25,000 in a short period of time, all while keeping it a secret from Charlie. Thanks to you—our amazing donors—we were able to raise the money and keep the secret! It was a
wonderful surprise for Charlie. Thank you to all our donors including our staff, board members, and GSNI members who gave so generously, so this project could come in right at the amount needed! Pictured below in photo on the left, Charlie Qualls, and in the photo on the right is Charlie Qualls (left) and Jason Jones, GSNI Property Manager.
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Upcoming Fundraising Events: Giving Tuesday! Everyone has something to give, and every act of generosity counts! Join the Giving Tuesday Movement and reimagine a world built upon shared humanity and radical generosity. We are starting out the new fiscal year with Giving Tuesday on November 29. Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement. It was originally created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. Last year, we set our goal at $10,000 and were able to surpass that amount by nearly $3,000! Your gifts helped Girl Scouts across the council in a number of ways, including financial assistance for memberships and uniforms, programming for older Girl Scouts, camping, STEM, and a variety of programs for all age levels.
A story from a family who was helped by your donations: Before the conference: “DL is really excited about the conference. She’s nervous too, I believe. This will be the first time DL will be somewhere without one of us since March 2020. We have been very careful throughout the pandemic and that has resulted in a lot of isolation—and bonding!—as a family. It’s just the three of us since our extended family is not nearby and/or not COVID cautious. DL has been remote learning all this time, too; she won’t go back to school in person until January 2022. Our goal since the start of the pandemic has been to get her through to being fully vaccinated without catching COVID. We succeeded! She’s had her two vaccines, and we celebrate DL Immunity Day on Thursday. This teen conference is part of our celebration, and her introduction to middle school independence. She is so, so thrilled! I just wanted to give you a heads up that DL might have anxieties that spring up and surprise even herself. Because she’s autistic, she has some sensory sensitivities. She needs to not feel crowded by others so, whenever possible, she needs to sit on the outer edge of a group or be at the back of a line. And she has auditory hyperacuity—the world is just very loud for her. She will be wearing her ear plugs. She knows how to manage these sensitivities and advocate for herself, but she hasn’t had to do so in a long time.” After the Conference: “Since the conference, DL has often said ‘we’ when taking about the day’s activities. More specifically today, she said, ‘We got only three or four shots with the air rifles, and everyone else had so many more.’ All this time I thought she was referring to her whole group. I learned today that when she says ‘we’, she’s referring to RC, the friend she made. I am delighted! The fact that we can get such detailed recollection over two weeks later is a testament to the impact the conference had on her. The fact that she led off with the fun team-building experience really stands out to me, too. Her primary takeaway is that she had fun with her peers. For a kid so often on the social edges, that is really special!”
Here are some ways you can help GSNI create many more of these stories: • Donate to GSNI. • Post the opportunity to donate on your social media and LinkedIn pages. • Share GSNI’s social media posts. • Start a mini-campaign on • your own social media pages. 2
This year our giving theme is Resilient. Ready. Strong. Scientists have found that certain activities lift your mood, calm you down when you’re stressed, and help you face challenges—and you can do many of these activities at Girl Scouts! Girl Scout programming has designed 10 skills that help boost resilience and build strong mental health. As an organization, we are committed to building and presenting programming that builds mental, emotional, and physical health for our members.
Going Once, Going Twice, Gone to the Highest Bidder! One of the new fundraising events planned this year is an online auction designed to raise funds to support science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programming. The auction will be November 18–28, just in time for holiday gift giving! This is a great opportunity for you to purchase a unique gift and support a great cause all in one action! You may be aware GSNI is currently creating two new Maker Spaces, one at Camp Dean and one at Camp McCormick. In
these spaces, Girl Scouts will be able to experience a variety of activities that include robotics, 3-D printing, cybersecurity, space science, STEM career exploration, engineering, and computer science. Funds raised from this auction will help ensure these spaces are sustainable for the future.
Mark your calendars and watch our social media posts. You won’t want to miss out on the fun and excitement!
GSNI’s Philanthropy staff are currently in the process of procuring items for this auction and will be posting social media messages soon, so you can see what is available for bidding.
Tough Cookies Crush the Thin Mint Sprint! Last but never least, thank you to our Thin Mint Sprint Committee and all the volunteers who helped make this event successful! If you have questions about Thin Mint Sprint, please contact us at tms@girlscoutsni.org. Stay tuned for information on next year’s race coming soon!
GSNI’s 18th annual Thin Mint Sprint was a great success! We are so grateful to our participants, sponsors, exhibitors, and supporters! Thanks to you, we surpassed our $16,000 fundraising goal! Now, we can provide even more financial assistance to our Girl Scouts and give them the Girl Scout Leadership Experience they want—no matter the financial barriers they may face. This year, we brought the race to the McHenry County area and partnered with the Fox River Grove Memorial Library’s Running Club for a neighborhood 5K Fun Run/Walk. It was so exciting to run in person and celebrate with more than 130 of our Girl Scout friends!
After the race, everyone enjoyed testing their grip and grit on our climbing wall, chilling out with some delicious treats from Kona Ice, and visiting our exhibitors! Thank you to our post-race party vendors: Advancing Global EDU, Best Brains of Algonquin, Main Stay Therapeutic Farm, Mathnasium of Cary, McHenry County College, NAMI of Barrington, Rotary Club of CaryGrove, and Sage YMCA. We are especially thankful for our sponsors: Greenlee Tools, Assured Partners, Jewel-Osco Foundation, Volo Auto Museum, Woodman’s Food Market, Cary Dairy Ice Cream Café, and our very own GSNI Board of Directors.
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Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois 1886 Daimler Road Rockford, Illinois 61112 If you would prefer to receive this newsletter by email, please contact Vicki Jacobson at vjacobson@girlscoutsni.org, or 844-476-4463. Thank you for your continued support of GSNI as we strive to develop independent, confident girls through customizable experiences and opportunities to learn valuable life skills while cultivating the character to make a difference in the world!
girlscoutsni.org
New Donor Spotlight Our new donor spotlight is on Cary Dairy Ice Cream Café— Cary’s premium ice cream stop, open year-round! Cary Dairy Ice Cream Café proudly serves Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream—a super delicious, super premium ice cream from Madison, Wisconsin—as well as soft serve, slushees, ice cream cakes, delicious locally-baked goods, and their own special blend coffee from Conscious Cup. Additionally, they offer a variety of gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, kosher and no-sugar-added options. Cary Dairy Ice Cream Café provides families and people in the community with a familyfriendly spot to enjoy all they have to offer. It is locally owned and operated by a former Cary
Cary Dairy Ice Cream Café
firefighter, Randy Scott, and his wife, Meredith. They say, “Our goal was to create a place in Cary where families could come and enjoy time together and make memories. As lifelong Cary residents, we love being able to give back to such an amazing community.”
395 Cary Algonquin Rd Unit E Cary, IL 60013 (847) 829-4623
Congratulations to our new donor for receiving the 2022 Best Ice Cream/Frozen Custard in McHenry County – Best of the Fox Award!