The empire of the illustrious Girl Scouts is expanding in Merced County.
During a recent Sunrise Rotary meeting, troop leader Hope Meza shared about her experience with the Girl Scouts of the USA, as well as the changes she is in the process of implementing locally.
Meza is the leader of Girl Scout Troop 3007. She has been involved for less than two years, but immediately was drawn to the Girl Scouts’ values of leadership, volunteerism, and tradition.
“I’m a mentor and advisor, but it’s the girls who lead the troop,” Meza said, and continued to share how the focus is on activities and projects chosen and directed by the girls involved.
While Girl Scouts are known for their cookie sales, their mission is much more involved. Meza listed an assortment of sales her troop participates in, including nuts, candy, decorative tins, and tumblers. Even more important than sales, however, is the Scouts’ relationship with the community. Girls formulate and implement their own community initiatives. In Troop 3007, Scouts have run projects that include babysitting, gun safety, city clean-up, and animal welfare. Meza emphasized the way participation in Girl Scouts teaches girls respect for authority, their country, and themselves.
While working on projects in Livingston and Winton, girls in the area mentioned to Meza that they wished they could participate in the Girl Scouts, but that there was not a troop locally for them to join. Soon, that will no longer be the case. Meza shared during the Rotary meeting that those troops will be up and running in the next 30 days.
While Meza has taken on a big responsibility in her role as a leader for the Girl Scouts, she embraces the challenge: “I’m taking on five different hats, and loving every one of them.”