Dear Friends of Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey,
2021 marked another year of unprecedented challenges for Girl
Scouts of Northern New Jersey due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
That said, it also created opportunities for us and our members
to demonstrate our resiliency and commitment to building
girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a
better place.
We saw many troops and leaders pause as
volunteers were impacted by pandemic-related stress and illnesses in
2021. During this period, girl membership decreased by 28 percent
from the year prior. Despite this decline, we remained committed to
preserving the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for our active
members. We found alternative ways to deliver programs to
best serve our girls and volunteers during these challenging
times, while also connecting with prospective members
virtually. And, we supported the many Girl Scouts working toward
Highest Awards, helping them pivot and adapt their take action
projects to navigate the difficulties they were facing.
While social distancing requirements implemented in 2020 carried
through 2021, we continued a majority of programs and activities
virtually and reimagined a variety of our programs and events
to take place in new and creative formats to give girls
opportunities to interact and engage with one another in a safe,
socially distanced manner. We held more hybrid events,
including our Fun with Daisy & Brownie Friends Series for new Girl
Scouts, Drive-Thru Boo Bash, Turkey Trek, Voter Girl with the League
of Women Voters, STEMfest Jr., and the Becoming Me program, inspired
by former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama’s book
Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers.
We served 12,364
members through council-sponsored program activities and utilized
our camp properties to host many outdoor program activities. In
summer of 2021, we were excited to have Girl Scouts return to Lake
Rickabear and Jockey Hollow camps in person.
We continued
to prioritize our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and
racial justice with initiatives such as our celebration of Black
History Month in February that included a patch-earning virtual,
educational challenge for our Girl Scouts and a series of story-time
video recordings by local women leaders of color.
We
continued to serve girls from under resourced communities in northern
New Jersey, with our L.E.A.D. (Learn, Explore, Aspire, Dream)
outreach initiative and supported 618 girls, enabling them to
participate in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
The
2021 Girl Scout Cookie season also provided new opportunities
to showcase Girl Scouts’ entrepreneurial spirit as we helped girls
find creative, innovative ways to reach their cookie sales goals.
Tactics such as drive-through cookie booths, online sales through
Digital Cookie, and our contactless cookie delivery partnership with
Grubhub helped teach girls new real-world entrepreneurial skills
including e-commerce.
Our fundraising gala, Women of
Achievement was an "al fresco" experience at Lake
Rickabear Camp where we raised $185,000 to help expand the impact
and reach of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. The event was
held in person beside the lake, as well as virtually, to accommodate
guests however they felt most comfortable participating.
We remain strongly committed to expanding the reach and impact of the
Girl Scout Leadership Experience so we may bring the benefits of Girl
Scouting to as many girls as possible in the communities we serve.
As we look ahead to a post-pandemic world, we draw on the
spirit of innovation and support that propelled our organization
throughout the year and look forward to building upon this momentum in
the future.
We thank you for your partnership and all you
do to support girls and Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.
Sincerely,
Bette M. Simmons, Ed.D. Chair, Board of Directors
Sandra A. Kenoff, President / CEO
