Girl Scouts

I've been looking for a place to volunteer the past few months to no avail. Either there's a fee, too demanding hours or nobody gets back to me.   An acquaintance just now thought he was sending me a link to the Girl Scouts cookie finder, but it was actually to their volunteer application. Hmmm....

I was a Brownie & then a Girl Scout until I was 13. My troop leader strangled me & had me kneel on broken glass. Whenever my troop went camping, we cleaned up other troops' cabins ("only boys use tents") because it was practice for housewifery. Until I read Manifesta & a Bitch Magazine article in '06, I thought that's just what Girl Scouts was. I talked with Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards (authors of Manifesta) about how my experience didn't match up with their or Bitch's descriptions; they urged me to alert Girl Scouts Of America of those abuses. GSA was shocked & sent me a formal apology. Because my troop leader had retired, nothing more could be done unless I chose to press charges. That troop leader was Mary Lappe in Chicago.

Maybe volunteering for Girl Scouts of America would be a good move for me, what better way to ensure that the same horrors I endured don't repeat? I interned with Project Girl, a very similar organization, & loved it - not to mention all the LGBT youth work I'veve done. I dunno if I could be a troop leader, but they have opportunities for monthly volunteering.

I'd have to talk with a representative before investigating further, make my experience & concerns known. After what happened to me, all I really know about GSA is what I leaned from that book & that magazine (which I still have!) as well as tumblr's occasional posts cycling around.