The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

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  • Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen Bianca Lopez, 11, plants flowers at CLILA (Coalition of Latino Leaders) recently at the office off Morris Street as part of a beautification initiative.

    Girlscouts at CLILA 2 mlh.jpg

  • Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen Diana Olivo, 8, waters the roots of a plant as Veronica Gomez, 9, prepares to plant it in a pot at CLILA Saturday.

    Girlscouts at CLILA 3 mlh.jpg

  • Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen Bianca Lopez, 11, waters flowers at CLILA Saturday.

    Girlscouts at CLILA 1 mlh.jpg

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June 11, 2010

Hispanic Girl Scout leaders seek volunteers

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

“Very secluded” is how Olivia Sanchez describes several of the Guatemalan and Mexican families she’s worked with as a Girl Scout leader for the past three years.

“You go knock on their door, and they just peek through the window,” she said. “If they’re going to stay here in America and make this their permanent home, they need to learn the American way.”

A private grant through the nonprofit Goizueta Foundation in Atlanta provided $1 million to Hispanic Girl Scout troops around the state for three years. There are about 250 girls in troops in the Hispanic Initiative Program in Gordon, Murray and Whitfield counties, organizers said.

However, the program ends on June 30, and participants are still searching for bilingual volunteers to step into the roles of the three full-time and two-part time employees whose jobs are going away.

Many Girl Scouts are from families who are in the United States without documentation, Sanchez said, and their parents are reluctant or unable to provide extracurricular activities for their children. Since the girls can’t always come to them, Hispanic troop leaders have been bringing activities to them.

“We drove out to the communities to different Hispanic neighborhoods and set up the tables and chairs,” Sanchez said, explaining the grant also paid for a truck to haul equipment as well as arts and crafts and sporting goods paraphernalia. “The girls would come to us.”

Girls can eventually “graduate” from the Hispanic-only program and be integrated into traditional troops. The Hispanic-only aspect is designed to reach out to families who otherwise wouldn’t get involved because of the language barrier or other apprehensions. The English language is one of the biggest barriers to getting Hispanic families into scouting, Sanchez said.

“Our organization is worldwide — and it is in Mexico,” Sanchez said, “(but) a lot of girls don’t get the opportunity to know the organization. We took these three years to educate them about it, and it hasn’t been easy, but we have made a big difference.”

There are now five troops in Dalton alone, but there are not enough volunteers to sustain them, she said. Individuals seeking legalization or citizenship are especially encouraged to apply as volunteerism will look good on their applications, Sanchez said.

She said the troops have worked with CLILA, an acronym that translates in English to the Coalition of Latino Leaders. CLILA is a nonprofit that operates in a building on Morris Street. Girl Scout leaders and CLILA officials worked together the past few years on initiatives that seek to promote women serving in leadership roles.

Lorena Murillo, 16, visited CLILA recently to help with a cleanup and beautification project area scouts were doing.

“(Being in Girl Scouts) teaches you how to be independent, how to not be shy,” said Murillo, who has been in scouts for three years. “We had a program that taught you how to be confident in yourself and how to speak to the public without being shy.”

Madeline Hernandez, 10, said she likes all the activities in her troop, ranging from leadership and community service to more fun-oriented events.

Murillo said many girls in her troop do not participate in any extracurricular activities outside their Hispanic Girl Scout troop events.

Area Girl Scout troops held a closing ceremony for the Hispanic program in late May. Cadets and senior Girl Scouts demonstrated their leadership skills and ability to make decisions, said scouting employee Myriam Watkins, a native of Colombia, while the younger girls showed how to work together and present a formal tribute to the flag.

“It was a very emotional evening where awards were given to all those people who for three years were helping us (by) providing sites for meetings or donating their time to assist with activities,” Watkins said, “and the troop leaders, who are the backbone of the organization.”

Watkins said she’s seen many shy, timid girls march out of their solitude through their involvement in Girl Scouts. Among other things, the programs encourage leadership skills, community service, survival skills and arts and crafts knowledge.

Bilingual women are invited to register as Girl Scout leaders to help with Hispanic troops. For more information call (706) 226-1435 or (404) 863-4759 or visit www.girlscouts.org.

 

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