Bronze into Gold Take Action

Did you see this in the GSUSA blog on September 29^th? 

“Girl Scouts’ palm oil use is very small, but our voice is big,” says Amanda Hamaker, GSUSA’s Manager of Product Sales. “Palm oil is an important product to the world’s food supply, so we believe promoting sustainable manufacturing principles is the most responsible approach for Girl Scouts.”

This action follows a five-year campaign by two teenage Girl Scouts from Michigan to make Girl Scout cookies rainforest-safe. The girls, Madison Vorva, 16, and Rhiannon Tomtishen, 15, learned as part of their Girl Scout Bronze award project that the habitat of the orangutan is threatened by deforestation caused by palm oil production.

“Madison and Rhiannon have done exactly what Girl Scouts teaches girls: find a cause you care about, connect with others, and take action to change the world,” says Hamaker. “They are shining examples of leadership in persuading a 99-year-old American icon to take on a serious global issue.”

WOW!  They learned about the issue as Juniors as they worked on their Bronze award, and then kept at it until the change was made!  This is truly a Gold Award caliber project, especially if they had some other pieces that the article didn’t talk about.

Who was their team?  If they were pointing out such a BIG issue to such a BIG organization, they would have needed scientific experts on their team.  Perhaps they involved an Eco-Club at their school and garnered school district support? 

How did they lead?  Did they identify the issue, then map out one plan to make the change?  Probably not!  The girls probably had stops and starts, revisiting of the plan, connecting with more partners to strengthen their request.  This could include Congressional members and lobbying groups or other National Eco organizations.

Did they educate others? Sure seems like GSUSA heard them.

Did they have a measurable outcome?  YES!  Watch for the changes on the cookie boxes.

Did they address global concerns?  Oh my, but YES!

Theses girls have truly discovered, connected and have taken action to make the world a better place for EVERYONE. Kudos to them! Can hardly wait to see what they’ll do for the Gold….