By Kim French, Director of Resource Centers
Congratulations to Amanda Grabow who has been awarded GSNI’s Volunteer Spotlight for February 2022!
Amanda is a third generation Girl Scout leader who joined the Movement as a young Girl Scout. She enjoyed her time as a Girl Scout Brownie and Junior with her mother as her troop leader. This was years after Amanda’s mother’s Girl Scout experience with her mom (Amanda’s grandmother) as her troop leader. The trend continues!
Amanda has been volunteering for three years and is currently one of Troop 114’s and Troop 772’s leaders. She is also Arapaho Service Unit’s Co-Events Coordinator, Girl Scout Organizer, and helps as an Interim Communications Liaison.
GSNI Member Support Specialist Tara Campbell nominated Amanda for this award, stating, “Amanda has taken on several roles within her service unit team and has gone above and beyond in each area. As an Events Coordinator, she has been creating and running several events for the service unit, working hard to make sure Girl Scouts have lots of fun options outside of what their troops may be doing. She’s been covering as their Communications Liaison and has started a public service unit Facebook page to ensure their service unit has a face within the community.”
Tara also says, “Amanda has taken the Girl Scout Organizer position to a Service Unit Recruitment position and has done an exemplary job at helping the service unit reach their December New Girl Goal. She created a new recruitment email address for the McHenry area, blasted it out on social media, and added flyers sending two rounds throughout the schools. She does a great job matching new Girl Scouts with the best troop and has worked with the Service Unit Manager to start new troops to turn over to parent leaders later. When people respond to this new recruitment email address, Amanda is quick to reply, super friendly, helpful, and welcoming to prospective families. If she doesn’t know the answer, she is quick to reach out to others who have the answers, so she can get back to the families about their inquiry. If they don’t have a troop to join immediately, she encourages them to register, join their service unit’s Facebook page, and attend service unit events while they wait for a troop. She has been the face, name, and voice of Arapaho Service Unit and plays a key role in their success!”
Amanda explained, “My favorite moment as a Girl Scout volunteer was this past December when our Brownie troop stayed overnight at Mary Ann Beebe Center, and we went on a walk around the property. I was able to share all my Girl Scout memories with my girl and later showed her all the pictures I have from when I was a kid at Mary Ann Beebe Center. It was so fun sharing that memory and connection with her.”
In response to the question, “Why do you volunteer for Girl Scouts?” Amanda answered, “I once had someone say to me, ‘Your daughter is going to have unique and incredible experiences while in Girl Scouts. When she talks about those moments at the dinner table, she will talk about her leader and that will either be someone else, or it could be you living out those experiences with her.’ I volunteer so I can live incredible moments with my daughter; so, we can take our time in Girl Scouts with us for the rest of our lives. I am determined to get as many other girls and volunteers involved, so they can have those wonderful experiences you can’t get outside of Girl Scouts.”
“My advice to other Girl Scout volunteers or parents?” Amanda comments, “Live in the moment and enjoy the time you have with your girls.”
Thank you, Amanda, for your dedication to Girl Scouts and your wonderful contributions!
GSNI wishes to thank Patty Donahue and Image Awards Engraving and Creative Keepsakes in Geneva, Illinois, for graciously providing the beautiful tile trivet awards for our Volunteer Spotlight Program.
