Making a Difference
My first year as CEO of Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska was marked by tremendous learning and growth. I have enjoyed traveling the state to learn about the incredible difference Girl Scouts are making in their communities. I have appreciated feedback from fellow leaders to learn how we can best support troops to provide a meaningful and engaging Girl Scout experience. Most of all, I have been excited to meet Girl Scouts and hear about their goals and how being a Girl Scout has positively impacted their lives.
This past year, Girl Scouts celebrated its 110th birthday. We increased our membership by 20% and provided high quality services to 14,789 members. Through school and community-based partnerships, we extended access to Girl Scout programs to more than 2,000 under-resourced youth.
I am proud of the difference we are making for Nebraska girls. Through our girl-led programs and activities, Girl Scouts are learning new skills, improving their communities, enjoying the outdoors, and expanding their horizons through travel. With support from thousands of Girl Scout volunteers across the state, the overwhelming majority of Nebraska Girl Scouts feel like they can be themselves, that they belong in Girl Scouts and that they can make a difference in the world.
Thank you to all our volunteers, donors, and supporters for all you are doing to help build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Together, we are preparing girls to be leaders.
Gratefully yours,
Sarah Waldman Chief Executive Officer2022 Community Impact
Locations
6 service centers across Nebraska
6 camps across Nebraska
Girl Scouts dream big and do good
Membership Activities
2,380 members in our Community Outreach program
more than 77,300 square miles across 92 Nebraska counties increased
20%
14,789 Girl Scout members
86% feel like they belong
91% of girls earned a patch or badge
81% volunteered or took part in community service
60% engaged in an outdoor activity like hiking and canoeing
1 out of 2 girls traveled out-of-state or nationwide
3 out of 4 girls believe they can make a difference in the world
Rediscovering Girl Scouts
In 2022, Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska enthusiastically pressed play after more than a year of pausing programs and events. Our focus was on bringing families back for those one-of-a-kind personal Girl Scout experiences.
What better way to do so than with the program theme, Rediscover Girl Scouts. From vintage to modern, and everything in between, programs recognized history, customs and traditions while embracing today and looking ahead!
Girl Scouts celebrated its 110th anniversary. The very first Girl Scout troop was formed on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia by Juliette Gordon Low. Today, Girl Scouts has more than 59 million Girl Scout alumnae—united by the desire to do big things to make the world a better place.
The year also brought our first Volunteer Retreat Weekend. In June, Volunteers came together at Camp Catron to be recognized for their incredible efforts to support Nebraska Girl Scouts. Networking opportunities, informative workshops, and a Volunteer Award Ceremony were just a few of the highlights.
Spirit of Nebraska prioritized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion creating a three-year strategic plan that was launched in October 2022. From Lunch and Learns led by external experts to participating in various multicultural
events across the state, the council’s DEI efforts focus on creating a culture of belonging and ensuring the fair treatment and full participation of all people.
The Gold Award is our world-renowned leadership program. It has launched countless girls into college, the military, career paths, and entrepreneurial endeavors. We had 22 Girl Scouts go for the gold in 2022. From implementing reading programs in schools to authoring a mental health activity book, Girl Scouts from across Nebraska took action to make the world a better place!
Cali D’Agosto, received Girl Scouts of the USA’s Gold Award Scholarship for her project, The Pad Project. She was inspired by learning that girls in other countries miss up to a week of school each month due to the lack of products for their menstrual cycle. With help from other Girl Scout troops, her grandmother’s quilting group, and a local church, 200 sets of reusable pad packs were created, assembled and sent to Kenya.
We finished out the year with an overall 20 percent increase in membership. Our dedicated employees and volunteers are committed to provide a positive experience for all girl Scouts and families. Thanks to you for making it possible for Girl Scouting to continue building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Thank you to our Donors!
For more than ten decades Girl Scouts has been building girls of courage, confidence, and character. We couldn’t do what we do without the dedication of our donors, volunteers, and employees. Your support is what makes a difference in the lives of girls across Nebraska!
artVenture
On March 19, 2022, Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska hosted its 18th Annual artVenture Art Show and Auction. Girl Scouts and professional artists created works of art that were sold in a silent auction raising funds for Girl Scout programming. Spirit of Nebraska is the only council in the country boasting this unique programming and fundraising partnership!
[glamp!]
Women from across the state gathered at Camp Catron in August to unplug and reconnect with Girl Scouts to support vital outdoor programs for girls. Mark your calendar for our 2023 event, August 26-27. We hope to see you there!
Donor Dinner
In October, our Annual Juliette Low Donor Dinner honored longtime supporters of Girl Scouts. The featured speaker of the evening was Gold Award recipient, Marigold Helvey. Marigold’s Gold Award Project involved drafting a bill lowering the organ donor age from 16 to 14.
Here’s how you can support Nebraska girls. Join Daisy’s Circle!
Daisy’s Circle is Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska’s monthly giving program designed to cultivate philanthropy among friends, members, and volunteers of Girl Scouts. Funds raised provide financial assistance for girls and volunteers. To learn more about Daisy’s Circle, email development@girlscoutsnebraska.org.
*Management and general includes costs associated with Marketing and Communication, Information Technology, Finance/Accounting, our six service center locations.
5,378 Girl Scout Cookie Program Participants
4,616 Online Cookie Sales
758 Fall Product Program Participants
2022 Donors
Thank you to our many generous supporters! We are proudly supported by United Way.
$100,000 AND ABOVE
Robert E. Catron Family
Lozier Foundation
$50,000-$99,999
Anonymous
Dixon Family Foundation
Nebraska Environmental Trust
United Way of the Midlands
$25,000-$49,999
Anonymous
Peter Kiewit Foundation
Richard P. Kimmel and Laurine
Kimmel Charitable Foundation, Inc.
William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation
$10,000-$24,999
BlueCross BlueShield of Nebraska
Collective For Youth
Columbus Area
United Way
Cooper Foundation
Anabeth Cox
Dillon Foundation
Donlan Foundation
Girl Scouts of the USA
Heartland United Way
Imperial Foundation
Inspire Brands
Foundation Inc.
Lancaster County Human Services
Fran Marshall
Adah and Leon Millard Family Foundation
Mutual of Omaha
Pinnacle Bank - Omaha
The Manufacturing Institute
Union Pacific Railroad Foundation
United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County
Sarah and Tom Waldman
Donna and Dr. Chuck Wilcox
Wirth Foundation, Inc.
Woods Charitable Fund, Inc.
$5,000-$9,999
Acklie Charitable Foundation
Kate and Jeff Betsworth
Charities Aid Fund of America
Diane Duren and Drew Collier
Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Nebraska
Julie and Lance Fritz
Kiewit Corporation
Stephanie and Jack Koraleski
Mammel Family Foundation
Rogers Foundation
Susan and Stephen Taylor
Ted Baldwin Donor Advised Fund
Union Bank & Trust
Union Pacific Corporation GivePLUS Program
$1,000-$4,999
Abel Foundation
Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
Sarah Labedz Anderson
Carol Aten
Jennifer and Guy Bailey
Baird Holm LLP
Angela Batson
Sharon and Randy Blackburn
Benevity Charitable Community Impact Fund
Melissa Camara
Caswell, Panko & Westerhold, LLC
Yvonne Norton-Leung and Kam Ching
Laurel Marsh and Dan Clark
Juli Comstock
Conagra Brands Foundation
Libby (Mary) Davis
Deloitte
Laura Fender
Firespring Foundation
May L. Flanagan Foundation, Inc.
FNBO
Frontstream
Katie and BJ Glover
Google, Inc.
Jennifer Hamann
Hampton Family Foundation
Rachel and Brandon Hays
Lisa and Jeremy Hiatt
Nicole Brown and Cecil Hicks
Holland Basham Architects
Hornady Manufacturing
Sarah Jackson
Larissa Johnson
Anne Jones
Joseph Kizer
Lexington United Way
Lincoln Community Foundation
Lynn Harland and Harmon Maher
Irene and Joseph Malek Charitable Trust
Betty and Dr. Roger Meyer
Valerie and Robert Monzingo
Nelnet, Inc.
Mary Ann O’Brien
Mark O’Connell
OPPD
Linda and Larry
Pearson
Fride Philpot
Janet and Louis Pol
Maria Lamagna Reiter
Kori Gross-Rhode and Chad Rhode
Kassi Riordan
Memorial Endowed Fund
Edward and Lida Robinson Charitable Trust
Lynne and Bart Ruth
Sandhills Global, Inc.
Scheels
Marian Othmer
Schultz Fund
Susan Seidel
Ashley and Jesse Sladky
Snow-Redfern Foundation
Fiona and Michael Sullivan
Dina Tilgner
Susan Toohey
Michelle Trawick
UNICO Group
United Way of the Kearney Area
UNL Extension
UNO The Center for Collaboration Science
Wayne Area
United Way
Carol and Mike
Whetstine
Jean and Robert Wick
Linda and Ed Willis
WoodmenLife
Gail and Michael
Yanney
$500-$999
Misty Ahmic
American National Bank
Denise Bash
Penny and
Michael Bode
Deborah and Bill
Brennan
Pam Carrier
Traci Cherrington
Michelle Clark
Cobalt Credit Union
Carol and John Dennison
Betsy Flood
Wendy Hamilton
Vicki and Richard
Hanus
Whitney and Alan Hayes
Pam Hernandez
Karen and John Hovanec
Charitable Fund
Jennifer Jerram
Tami Marie Johnson
Kearney Area Community Foundation
Kendra Scott
Lori Kleinschmit
Wende and John Kotouc
Laurie McAloon
Cindy Miller
Tatum Morris
Kathy and Joseph O’Connor
Marguerite O’Neill
Sue and Tom Pirnie
Pledgeling Foundation
Halsey Ruhl
Laura and Brian Runge
Seim Johnson, LLP
Sarah Trotter
Union Pacific Fund for Effective Government
United Way of York
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Lindsay and Alex VanZee
$250-$499
Kandy and Todd Adams
Anonymous
Arbor Bank
Pamela Baker
Behlen Manufacturing
Mark Borchers
Julia Brecht-Johnson
Adelle Burk
Richard Castagna
Susan Chenoweth
College of Saint Mary
Cornhusker Bank
Beth and Mark Dietz
Jan Doiel
Cortnee Else
First State Bank & Trust Company
Hannah Fischer Frey and Nathan Frey
Melissa Gittins
Chris Hanlon
Amber Harewood
Kim and Jason Hess
Hightower Reff Law LLC
Lisa Hukill
Michelle and Hasan Hyder
Heather Jacobson
Katherine Jens
Mary Kaura
Kristine Klopnieski
Susan Koenig
Rhonda Lutt
Marjorie Maas
Colleen Maciejewski
Nancy and Andy
McGregor-Jader
Tricia and Rick Montague
Denise Moore
Patrick Murphy
Network for Good
Susan Nickels and Larry Newell
Caitlin O’Connor
Kristine Olson
Omaha Summer Arts Festival
Delores Hope Partridge
Nancy Mocroft and David Paulson
Anne Pierce
Mary Raimondo
Margaret and John Rebensdorf
Lisa Reese-Parish
Kimberly Reeves
Brenda Robinson
Laura Schnackel
Amanda and Joel Schmidt
Emily Maxwell and Nathan Sheldon
Angelica Size
Mark Slattery
Rachael Smurick
Meghan Sonderegger
Kate Spielman
Stephanie Stickels
Brad Thrasher
Michele Volavka
Karen and Larry Walklin
Troop 44427
United Way of Greater Cleveland
Unity Eye Centers, Inc
Wells Fargo Foundation
WRK Family Foundation
$100-$249
Huberta Adams
Amazon Smile Foundation
Robert Anderson
Katelyn Asmus
Karen and Jerry Authier
Barbi and Steve Beberniss
Jacqueline Bendon
Cindy and David Biehl
Anna Blahut
Booz Allen Hamilton
Bridge Street Auto
Beth Ann Brooks
Melanie Boudreault and Eric Brown
Kelly Carlson
Brenda Christensen
Michelle Cleary
Dr. Samuel Cohen
Collins Aerospace
Jamie Cooksley
Dr. Charles F. Craft
Mary and Hal Daub
Breanna Davis
Kristi Deardorff
Tonya Eggspuehler
Margaret Egleston
Eiler’s Machine & Welding
Misty Elliott
Kyla Endorf
Alisha and Barrett Epp
Patty and Dennis
Fogland
Janice Fonda
Rebecca Gdowski
Jenn and Tyler Gjerde
Mark Goodall
Debra Graeve-Morrison
Marilynn Grotrian
Alise Guzman
Maggie and Lannie
Hallowell
Amy Hansen
Kerry Heinrich
Loretta and Jason Hellmuth
Kath Henebry
Cyndi Hevi and Yao
Hevi-Doglan
Jan and Roger Hirsch
Harriet Hoglund
Barbara HoppeJohnson
Rhonda Hornberger
Iowa West Foundation
David Janda
Sara and Grant Janke
Karen and John Janovy
Tarna Kidder
Kiwanis Club of Columbus, Nebraska
Kelly Krob
Cheryl and Lonnie Lentsch
Lexington Community Foundation
Mark Lutz
Brenda Mainwaring
Dulcey Mannel
Zoe May
Angela McMullen-
Gunn
Ian Meyer
Sonja Dianne Mosiman
Ethel and Henry Mount
Amy and Kevin Moyer
Lila Munsell
Karen and Larry Nelsen
Gwendolyn Newkirk
Jennifer Noteware
Kelli Olsufka
Britany Parrish
Theresa Sue Pederson
Paula Pittman
Amanda Ponce
Dee and Jim Price
Principal Financial Group
Ann Marie Quinlan
Cyndi Rauenhorst
Portia and Dr. Jerry Reed
Lucia Kroeger Renz
Joanie Rich
Margaret and Fred Rickers
April and Kenny Rocker
Paul Royster
Anna Runge
Katie and Evan Runge
Sue Schreiber
Scully Estates Limited Partnership
Libby and Ricky Snipes
Tori Alecia Sorensen
Kara Stockdale
Pam Sukup
Michelle Teters
Theodore M. and Sarah N. Seldin
Family DA Fund
Christine and Marc
Tompkins
Julie Lasto and Jeff Totusek
Abbie Vollers
Michele and Scott Weaver
Tracy and John Wells
Judy and Gale Wickersham
Wendy Wohlers-Gerdes
Margery and Stephan Woodman
Diane and Dan Yenny
In-Kind Donations
Sarah Labedz Anderson
Kate and Jeff Betsworth
Juli Comstock
Embassy Suites Omaha Downtown
Katie and BJ Glover
Whitney and Alan Hayes
Nicole Brown and Cecil Hicks
Hornady Manufacturing
Larissa Johnson
KIOS
Macrae Productions
Mary Raimondo
Kori Gross-Rhode and Chad Rhode
Seim Johnson
Meghan Sonderegger
Lindsay and Alex VanZee
Sarah and Tom Waldman
Juliette Gordon Low Society
Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska’s Juliette Gordon Low Society encourages major and planned gifts to support Girl Scouting well into the future.
Misty Ahmic
Judy Beveridge
Dianne Belk and Lawrence Calder
Elizabeth Campbell
Jenny and Tom Cardwell
Theresa Cassaday
Susan Chenoweth
Anabeth Cox
Rita Jean Fleischer
Lori Frank
Kay French
Kaylynn and John Goldner
Helene Grgurich
Wendy Hamilton
Pamela James
Deborah J. Keating
Jeanne Krenk
Fran Marshall
Karen and John Morey
Pat Norris
Marie Odgers
Barb and Ray Pille
Barb Rader
Lynne and Bart Ruth
Sharon Robino-West
Peggy Roit
Dalyce Ronnau
Helen Saathoff
Deborah and Paul Salansky
Sue Schreiber
Susan Seidel
Coleen J. Seng
Sändra Washington and Deb Cirksena
JoAnn Ward
Linda and Ed Willis
2021-2022
Board of Directors
President—Kate Betsworth, Union Pacific Railroad
First Vice President—Juli Comstock, Community Volunteer
Second Vice President—Katie Glover, Hornady Mfg. Co.
Secretary—Melissa Camara, Wright Service Corp.
Treasurer—Sarah Labedz Anderson, First National Bank
Members at Large
Angela Batson, UNMC
Nicole Brown, Redroom Productions
Joyce Cooper, OPPD
Laura Fender, Ameritas
Hannah Fischer Frey, Baird Holm Law Firm
Jennifer Gjerde, State of Nebraska
Rachel Hays, Big Giant Oil
Whitney Hayes, Object Partners
Larissa Johnson, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Colleen Maciejewski, Method Insurance
Emily Maxwell, Ameritas
Lisa Reese Parish, Kearney Public Schools
Louise Pickens, OBI Creative
Meghan Sonderegger, Union Bank
Mike Sullivan, Baird Holm Law Firm
Jacqueline Tabke, Nolan, Olson and Stryker
Lisa Taylor-Jones, Immanuel
Alex VanZee, Conagra Brands
Mission:
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.