Volunteers for Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania (GSHPA) work countless hours to benefit the girls in their troops – and in their charge – to aim high in all they do.
A rite of spring is the annual GSHPA Volunteer Award winners’ announcement.
Girl Scouts have been part of American life since the organization’s founding in 1912 in Savannah, Ga., by Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low.
While troop leaders and volunteers serve quietly as cookie managers, in-service projects leaders, or as a regional “cookie cupboard” point people, for the first time since 2015 the Thanks Badge II Award has been given to a GSHPA volunteer.
Belinda Stefl of Milton, Northumberland County, was recognized in a May 17, 2023 ceremony for the badge, said Sheri Kline, volunteer and alumnae engagement manager for GSHPA.
The Thanks II Award is the highest award and honor available nationwide to a Girl Scouts volunteer. The Thanks II Badge honors a previous Thanks Badge Award recipient.
Stefl has been a GSHPA volunteer for the past 57 years and “would bleed green,” a reference to the Girl Scouts signature green, and her dynamic dedication, Kline said.
“To be able to be given the Thanks Badge II means you’ve done many, many things,” she explained.
Roughly 100 nominations were made for volunteer awards with 84 given to recognize the time, value and dedication of Girl Scouts volunteers.
There are 111 Girl Scout Councils in the United States. GSHPA covers girls located in 30 counties in central, south-central and northeastern Pennsylvania.
Volunteers this year presented the majority of the awards to those recipients honored.
“It means more, I think, to receive the award from someone you know and who nominated you,” Kline said.
She noted many leaders are busy moms themselves with jobs. Volunteers do not receive pay for their time.
Girl Scout troop leaders and volunteers tell Kline – time and again – they don’t volunteer to be recognized.
“’I do it because I love the girls,’” is what I hear. They [volunteers] are participating tirelessly – and selflessly, and they are doing this all the time,” Kline explained.
“After the girls, our leaders are the most important part of Girl Scouts,” she said.
See the list of this year’s honorees:
