Sarah Wells Girl Scouts to merge with five other councils

Goshen — As part of a national realignment, the Sarah Wells Girl Scout Council will join with Girl Scouts of Dutchess County, Rockland County Girl Scout Council, Girl Scouts of Ulster County and Girl Scouts of Westchester/Putnam to form one Girl Scout council serving 35,000 girls. The merger is expected to be complete by Oct. 2007. On Aug. 26, the Girl Scouts of the USA’s National Board of Directors voted to endorse a plan to realign 312 councils into 109 high-performance, community-based councils. The organization says the new structure will make the most effective use of its resources. “By merging with the other councils, we will be combining our strengths into a new organization with exceptional potential,” said Barbara Sampson, executive director of the Sarah Wells Girl Scout Council. “This alliance will make it possible for us to provide even better programs, more opportunities and better service to the most important piece of our organization — the girls,” Susan Allioux, president of the board of directors, said, ”Forming a new council with Dutchess, Ulster, Rockland and Westchester Putman will create an enhanced Girl Scout experience consistent with the Girl Scout Mission to build girls with courage, confidence and character who will make the world a better place.” Under the leadership of Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Kathy Cloninger, who took office in 2004, the transformation began by asking girls and adults from throughout the Girl Scout community what they want and need from Girl Scouting today. Their decision was that the organization, founded in 1912, must seize the opportunity to revitalize the Girl Scout Movement to remain compelling, contemporary, and relevant to today’s girls. “This process has been a partnership between the national organization and our local councils,” Cloninger said. “For the past two years, we have taken those ideas and shaped a strategy that is transforming every aspect of Girl Scouting.” The Sarah Wells Girl Scout Council, Inc., a United Way agency, serves more than 8,600 girls in Orange and Sullivan counties and five towns in Pike County, Pa. For more information call the council office at 361-2898 or visit www.swgsc.org.