Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland held our annual meeting Thursday, May 19, 2011, at Aladdin Shrine Center in Columbus, Ohio. We elected new board members and officers, board development committee members, girl member-at-large representatives, and delegates to the 52nd National Council Session/2011 Convention that will be held November 10-13, 2011, in Houston, Texas.
We recognized the longstanding support of American Electric Power with this year's Community Partner Award. Through a generous donation from AEP, we will expand our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programming to reach even more girls. As part of our 100th Anniversary Celebration, AEP will be the lead sponsor of our Forever Green Community Service Projects in 2012.
We listened to an an inspiring presentation by Lisa Hinkelman, Ph.D., the founder and executive director of ROX: Ruling Our eXperiences. ROX is one of our partners in the One Girl Collaborative. Dr. Hinkelman reinforced our conviction that Girl Scout volunteers are making a real impact in the lives of our girl members.
One of those girls, Girl Scout Cadette Faith Beesler, received the Girl Scout Medal of Honor, for saving the life of a friend who was choking, in April 2010. Faith is one of only 17 Medal of Honor recipients nationwide for 2010.
As always, many of our most dedicated volunteers were recognized, with recipients of the Appreciation Pin, Honor Pin, Thanks Badge, and Thanks II Badge receiving their awards. We also bid farewell to outgoing Council President and Board Chair, Suzy Swanson. In her honor, the Suzy Swanson Annual Campership was establised, to enable a girl to attend Girl Scout camp.
All in all, it was an evening that truly celebrated the best of Girl Scouting!
