Girl Scouts Moving On

Leading a Girl Scout troop for one school year is stressful enough, but three years?! That’s exactly what Glen Ellyn resident Lisa Biedron did with Junior Girl Scouts Troop #982. Moreover, her co-leader Lori Kay lead this troop (and 3 or 4 others, according to Biedron) from its birth as Daisies in Kindergarten until its end this past Spring!

“They’re such good kids,” said Biedron of the girls. Ranging in numbers from 12 girls to 22 girls over the years, and based out of Park View Elementary School, the troop has seen its share of ups and downs in membership.

The number of girls involved, however, did not deter any of them from their community service efforts. Over the years, the girls have participated in community events such as giving gifts to families in need during the holiday season, singing at a Lombard nursing home (and subsequently visiting with residents) for a holiday celebration, and running a food drive last winter to benefit the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.

“The food drive was a hard one. It showed that the girls prospered in their efforts, despite obstacles,” Biedron explained, “The first day they were supposed to deliver, they got snowed out. They had to call everyone and reschedule, in the end they still ended up making the deliveries and even singing carols, undeterred by the cold and the snow.”

In addition to their holiday efforts, the girls participated in a Feed My Starving Children project where they packed food and nutritional packets for starving children in developing countries.

The girls also banded together to make, and donate, blankets for the Teen Parent Connection. TPC is a group that faces the realities of teenage pregnancy and parenting, and helps those in that situation learn self-sufficiency and life skills.

These outstanding scouts’s efforts don’t end at holiday events, feeding the starving, or blanket donations, though.

Over the years the girls have also made cards for residents of the Sunrise Senior Living facility, and visited with them upon delivering the cards.

The last 5 years, the girls have also made a scarecrow to participate in the Morton Arboretum’s annual Fall Color Festival, as part of “Scarecrow Trail”.

Junior Girl Scouts Troop #982 was not just about giving, however. The girls, and their leaders, knew how to let loose and have fun as well. Using money earned from their cookie sales, the troop celebrated one year with an overnight at Key Lime Cove in Gurnee. As their “Grand Finale”, according to Biedron, this past school year they took their fundraising money and had an overnight celebration at Timber Ridge Resort in Lake Geneva, WI. What a way to close out the efforts of an outstanding group of young girls!

When asked about the girls’ commitment to giving, Biedron said, “They’ve enjoyed the giving aspect as well as the fun, without a doubt!”

She holds high hopes that many former troop #982 members will continue on their tradition of giving through groups like the Kiwanis-sponsored Builder’s Club at Glen Crest, and Key Club in high school.