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Five Area Girl Scout Councils Plan to Combine
Goals include quality experiences, streamlined service
As the 95th anniversary of Girl Scouting approaches in March, 2007, five local councils have joined Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) in a historic transformation to modernize the iconic organization and focus on leadership development for girls in the 21s' century.
For the past two years, girls and adults in the Hudson Valley have been among thousands nationwide who voiced their opinions and shared ideas to decide the future direction of Girl Scouting. The conclusion: the organization, which since 1912 has inspired 50 million girls and women, must seize the opportunity to revitalize the Girl Scout Movement to remain compelling, contemporary and relevant to today's girls.
As a first step in this revitalization, the organization is undergoing a major realignment of its 313 local jurisdictional areas nationwide. Here in the Hudson River Valley, five existing Girl Scout councils will be combining their resources and expertise to become one large high-capacity council serving approximately 35;000 girls by the fall of 2007.
The five are:
+Girl Scouts of Westchester*Putnam, Inc., located in Pleasantville;
+Girl Scouts of Dutchess County, based in Poughkeepsie;
+Girl Scouts of Rockland County, based in New City:
+Sarah Wells Girl Scout Council, headquartered in Middletown and serving
Orange and Sullivan Counties;
+Girl Scouts of Ulster County, headquartered in Kingston;
The new council, scheduled to come into existence on October 1, 2007, will be known as Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson. The five existing regional offices, with a combined professional staff of about 100, will continue to provide local service to the seven counties. The interim central administration offices will be located in Poughkeepsie
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