Regional Girl Scout Councils Merge to Create New Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA – On Saturday, April 28, 2007, 444 delegates from the Girl Scouts of Freedom Valley, Girl Scouts-Great Valley Council and Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania voted to approve the historic merger of the three councils into one new, high-capacity council, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. The new nine-county Council, with more than 50,000 girls and 17,000 volunteers, is now the largest girl-serving organization in Pennsylvania. The merger is effective May 1.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania will be headquartered in Miquon, Pennsylvania with service centers located at the former Girl Scouts of Freedom Valley’s headquarters in Valley Forge, and Girl Scouts – Great Valley Council’s in Allentown, in addition to others located throughout the nine-county region.

“Amassing of our incredible resources creates more exciting programs and opportunities for our region’s girls,” said Ann Meredith, the recently appointed CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. “Our organization’s mission, ‘to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place’ will have an even greater impact on the lives of tens of thousands of girls and, in turn, the general health of our region.” Andrea R. Kramer, Esq., Chair of the new Council, added, “We are very proud to serve as one of the leading ‘early adopter’ councils nationwide that will help to shape the future of Girl Scouting in this country.”

The creation of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania will be celebrated in grand Girl Scout style with a ceremony at Valley Forge National Historical Park on Saturday, May 5, at noon. The new Council flag will be unveiled for the 2,000+ local Girl Scouts and volunteers in attendance. (More details about the ceremony to be announced.)

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, which will serve girls in Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia counties, is one of ten “early adopters” of a national Girl Scout council realignment which, by 2009, will reorganize the 312 councils across the United States into 109 high-performance councils. As one of the largest early adopters, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania’s opportunities and challenges are great.

“By virtue of this realignment, our girls from very diverse areas will have three times as many programs and camps to choose from.“ Meredith said. “We are already seeing how this new business strategy is going to position us to offer the best leadership development program for girls in the country—if not the world.”

For 95 years, Girl Scouts has been the preeminent place for girls to develop personal leadership skills that they carry with them into their adult lives. Through the guidance of trained adult mentors, girls participate in fun, educational activities that build character, confidence, and courage and give them the tools to take action to make the world a better place.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania will be headquartered in Miquon, Pennsylvania with service centers located in Valley Forge, Allentown, Reading, Delaware County, Easton, and Northeast Philadelphia. The council will own and operate nine camps located in Dingman’s Ferry, Gilbertsville, White Haven, Quakertown, Oxford, Pine Grove, Allentown, Lafayette Hill, and Valley Forge.

The Council will be composed of 130 full-time employees, and governed by a diverse 30-member Board of Directors from throughout Eastern Pennsylvania.

For more information, about Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, please visit www.gsep.org