by Kira Rysiewicz
Girl Scouts of Central Illinois has several volunteer opportunities and fundraising options in hopes of building a $1.7 million new building. Find out how you can help with the effort and take a look at the map of events here.
New fundraising projects for Girl Scouts of Central Illinois
The vision for the Girl Scouts’ new building.
Across the nation, it’s that time of year when adorable little Girl Scouts guilt you in to buying boxes of overpriced cookies. For the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois, however, this season’s fundraising projects hold a much bigger weight. They’re trying to raise $1.7 million to build a new facility for troop meetings, activities and offices.
“The building has been here since 1968 and it’s not really providing us with the space we need to help the girls,” said Ashley Taylor, Fund Development Professional for Girl Scouts of Central Ill.
Taylor coordinates fundraising projects for the organization, including her latest endeavor, the ‘Desserts First’ event happening on Feb. 27.
“Local area chefs are challenged to take our Girl Scout cookies and turn them into an elaborate dessert for a culinary competition,” said Taylor. “It gives people a different way to see us. Everyone knows us by our cookies but this is something a little bit different. It’s a nice, fun way to support the Girl Scouts.”
The event is in its second year, and it gives community members a chance to donate money or time as a volunteer to help the organization. For a $40 ticket, attendees can sample all eight dessert creations, listen to live entertainment, bid on raffle baskets and more.
“We always need volunteers to work at the event and help with event planning,” said Taylor. “Anything from setting up raffle baskets to calling to ask for donations, there are lots of ways to help.”
The Girl Scouts do raise quite a bit of money selling cookies every year, but the cold weather and snow this winter have impacted their cookie sales, which have been extended into April to give the girls more time to sell.
Despite the success of the cookie program, Girl Scouts rely on community volunteers and monetary donations to keep its doors open.
“Even though we’re celebrating cookies, a lot of people have the misconception that Girl Scouts don’t need any funding because we’ve got this huge, successful cookie program,” said Taylor. “In reality, 100 percent of the proceeds go back to the girls in some way, shape, or form. The cookie box is helping the girl directly but there’s so much more behind the scenes that the girls need.”
Boxes of cookies stored in the Girl Scouts office.
Lisa Trimble, volunteer development specialist for Girl Scouts of Central Ill. knows the importance of the community to keeping the organization afloat. She is responsible for finding volunteers to support their programming and collaborating with the community to find the people necessary to make their events a success.
“When people think of Girl Scout volunteers, they think of volunteer troop leaders but we are so much more,” said Trimble. “That’s the message that I’m trying to carry out into the community by talking to different organizations that we can possibly partner with.”
From college students to corporate volunteers, anyone is welcome to help with the programming put on by Girl Scouts. In addition, Girl Scouts holds several membership drives and campaigns to help send girls to camp who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
“We try to do whatever we can to create tomorrow’s leaders today,” said Taylor. “We serve over 5,000 girls here in the Peoria area. Most people don’t know that there are 128 councils in the U.S. and we’re in the top 15. That’s really big for the entire United States. We’re small but mighty.”
Mapping out Girl Scout’s Events
Explore this map to find out where this spring’s events are being held in central Ill. and how you can get involved in their fundraising project. Volunteers are needed for various events throughout the spring, so visit the map to find out when.