Solana Beach Girl Scouts celebrate 100th anniversary by beautifying Fletcher Cove

To celebrate the centennial birthday of Girl Scouts San Diego, Girl Scouts from Solana Beach and throughout San Diego County have been out in full force, doing good. As part of a challenge called “100 Days of Girl Scouts,” troops and individual members took action in their communities to make the world a better place.

Participants included two Solana Beach troops that teamed up to beautify Fletcher Cove Beach. Brownie Troop 3210 planned and organized the event and invited Daisy Troop 3980 to join them. The Brownies got the idea for the activity from Girl Scouts’ WOW! Wonders of Water curriculum, which is part of the “It’s Your Planet — Love It” Journey series.

“Our Brownies wanted to share what they had learned on their Journey, and be advocates for clean beaches and oceans by inviting a younger troop to join them in the clean-up,” reported Cheryl Linderman, the leader of Troop 3210. “Together, the girls picked up trash on the beach and in the park, learned a new song about saving and protecting water, and each made a personal commitment to save water.”

Other Girl Scouts brightened the lives of senior citizens, created care packages for pediatric cancer patients, planted school gardens, served meals to the homeless, and made goodie bags for families adopting rescue pets.

The 100 Days of Girl Scouts (March 12-June 19) challenge coincided with the national birthday of Girl Scouting. Juliette Gordon Lowe founded Girl Scouts on March 12, 1912 in Savannah, Ga.

Girl Scouts of the USA is now the nation’s preeminent leadership development organization, dedicated to building girls of courage, confidence, and character. Girls explore who they are, where their talents lie and what they care about the most. They discover there is power in every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader).

Girl Scouts San Diego was launched in 1917 — just five years after the national organization began — when Troop 1 of Coronado became the first Girl Scout troop west of the Rockies. Today, more than 35,000 girl and adult members in San Diego and Imperial counties benefit from year-round activities and training. Headquartered in Balboa Park, Girl Scouts San Diego operates a program center in Escondido and a service center in Carlsbad, and maintains two camps in the Cuyamaca Mountains. All girls in grades K-12 are welcome to attend Girl Scout summer camp; day and resident sessions continue through mid-August.

Adults are invited to Urban Campout: Celebrate 100 Years of Girl Scouts San Diego. The popular annual “fun fundraiser for grown-ups” is set for Friday, Sept. 15, 6-11 p.m. Find details at www.sdgirlscouts.org/uc.

To learn about Girl Scout opportunities for girls and adult volunteers in the North Coastal areas, contact Megan Quirk mquirk@sdgirlscouts.org or (619) 610-0694. For more information, visit www.sdgirlscouts.org.