[Posted Jan. 30, 2008]

Girl Scouts To Honor Agency’s Role
In Black History At Breakfast

     To join the rest of the nation in celebrating Black History Month, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America will host a special breakfast on Feb. 29 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. to honor scouting and the role it has played in Hampton Roads.

Dominique Dawes

      The keynote speaker is Dominique Dawes, an Olympic gold medal gymnast, who is the national spokesperson for Uniquely Me, a Girl Scout program designed to address the issue of low self-esteem among young girls, a major factor behind risky behaviors such as substance abuse, eating disorders and school drop out.”
     “It is free but we will be asking for a gift,” said Girl Scout spokesperson Sharon Laderberg, who said the upcoming breakfast is a major fundraiser for the organization.
 
     

     Self-esteem issues do not discriminate by race, religion, or financial background. It is a growing problem in today’s world where girls receive mixed messages from the media, especially the Internet, Laderberg explained in a news release.
     The organization will also reflect on its own unique history, as it celebrates its 96th year in 2008.

     According to national Girl Scout records, the first troop for African American girls was formed in 1917. By the 1950s, Girl Scouts began a national effort to desegregate all Girl Scout troops. In 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. described the Girl Scouts as “a force for desegregation.”
      Since then, things have changed. For example, there is Dr. Gloria Scott, the first African American GSUSA president, who addressed the organization’s annual meeting last spring in Hampton Roads.
      There are other accomplished African American women in Hampton Roads whose lives have been touched by the Girl Scouts. Consider Helen Hill, a former dean of students at Hampton University, and Jay Johnson, the first African American who was chosen in the early 1960s to attend a camp at National Center West in Wyoming, a camping experience she will never forget. It set her “can do” attitude, she said, which has carried her through life.
      “I knew, at the age of 16, if I could spend the first time away from home camping in Wyoming—hundreds of miles from Hampton, Virginia—and survive, I could survive anything in life,” Johnson said. She retired last year as manager of youth programs for the City of Hampton and is currently active on several state and local boards.
     There are other well-known African American women in Hampton Roads who have held key leadership roles in the organization such as Dr. Sandra DeLoatch, dean of technology for Norfolk State University, and Marlene Randall, Portsmouth Vice Mayor.
Both currently serve as board members for the local Girl Scouts. The organization serves almost 16,500 girls in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
      The deadline to purchase tickets for the upcoming breakfast is Feb. 22. To purchase an event ticket, make a donation, or to make a difference in the life of a girl through mentorship, contact Sharon Laderberg at 547-4405, ext. 247 or email her at sharonl@gsccc.org.  

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