Non-Profits

Girl Scouts do more than just sell those delicious cookies. They are building and shaping young ladies into important parts of society.

I met with Troop #592 from Lakeland, Florida to get an inside look at exactly how Girl Scouts is impacting the ladies in this particular troop. Their troop leader, Lisa Yutzy, invited me to a local seminar on making your own rain barrel where part of her troop was attending in order to learn information for their Environmental Fair.

These seven fifth, and sixth, grade girls are planning and putting together their own Environmental Fair on May 17th, 2008 at Lake Parker Park. They have gathered their resources, gained support from various donors, planned and are preparing to implement their fair in order to earn the Bronze Award.

“The Bronze Award is the highest merit a Junior Girl Scout can earn,” said Mrs. Yutzy. For those who are unfamiliar with Girl Scouts of America, there are merit badges they earn for the various service projects and fun activities they do throughout their time as a Girl Scout. However, these girls are earning much more than just another patch for their vests, they are gaining valuable life experience.

They have learned the value of health and exercise through several camps where they learned how to water ski, knee board, sled, kayak, and much more. They have also traveled to St. Augustine, Florida and Savannah, Georgia where they learned about the history of the Girl Scouts organization, the history of the two states, how people lived in colonial Florida, and visited Marine Land to learn about ocean life.

Recently the troop went to C.S.I. Camp at Camp Wildwood and learned about DNA, fingerprinting, chemistry, and how to map out dominant and recessive genes. Almost subconsciously these young ladies are learning history, science and other skills in ways that are innovative and fun.

At their weekly meetings, the girls take turns leading the others in various activities to teach them how to be responsible leaders. They have taught one another how to cook and have even spent their meeting time providing food to Lighthouse Ministries in Lakeland.

During another meeting, the girls cut an apple in half, rubbed their unwashed hands on the fleshy inside of it, and left it out till their next meeting, one half untouched and the other defiled by their dirty hands. By the next week the dirty half was significantly different from the clean half.

“We could see how many germs we have on our hands,” said Stephanie Yutzy, Mrs. Lisa Yutzy’s step-daughter who is also one of the girl scouts. This simple science project taught the young ladies much about cleanliness and hygiene.

“This week we’re going to make box ovens,” said Hayley, one of the girl scouts of troop #592. This will prepare them for their next camping trip so they can actually make one and cook with it out in the woods!

Clearly these girls’ lives are being impacted by their involvement with Girl Scouts of America and they are being taught how to positively impact their own community of Lakeland through Girl Scouts. The experiences, life-skills and social skills they have accumulated through this nonprofit organization are priceless.

After the girls learned about water conservation and the use of rain barrels at the seminar I previously mentioned, I sat down to talk to them about the impact of Girl Scouts on their lives and this is what they said:

To see more examples of activities Girl Scouts participate in see the youtube.com video below:

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When it comes to running and growing a nonprofit organization it is essential to have an excellent way of tracking finances. Joyce Meyer Ministries, a nonprofit organization that provides Christian broadcasts, missions outreaches and conventions worldwide, has chosen to use Serenic Navigator made by the Serenic Corporation as their financial tracker.

According to the PR Newswire website article, the organization is “implementing Serenic Navigator to support [their] standard of transparency and integrity in reporting [their] finances to [their] partners and friends of the ministry.”

Serenic President and CEO Randy Keith told PR Newswire that “they needed a system that will give them the ability to integrate donation activity with a proven financial management solution developed specifically to meet the needs of nonprofits.”

Nonprofit organizations that are willing to carefully track and publish their financial information are typically more honest and more likely to hold themselves up to a higher standard of integrity when it comes to raising funds for their organization. When looking for a good organization to donate to or volunteer with, check out their finances and see exactly what your money and time is supporting.

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Nonprofit organizations may not always be the headliners in the newspaper or the first thing we hear about when we flip on the news channel, but they are the heartbeat of humanity reaching out to each other for the sake of each other’s welfare.

I know my feature stories are not as interesting as, say, the latest scandal with Governor Guilianni, but these organizations I talk about are worth our time. In a world that focuses on the famous (or infamous, depending on how you view it) entertainment industry, people in politics, crime, war, and the resulting chaos that revolves around such issues, we as humans need to hear about the positive side of the world too.

There ARE good things going on in the world! The world has not “gone to hell in a hand-basket”! I am sick and tired of listening to the news and reading in the headlines of the newspapers and magazines all the drama and awful occurrences of the day. Of course, increasing our knowledge of the reality of crime can help us protect ourselves, and learning more about the pasts of presidential candidates can help us make a calculated decision on who to vote for. Those things can be beneficial to an extent, but what about the benefits we reap from hearing good news?

Proverbs 15:30 tells us that “Light in a messengers eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” Then Proverbs 16:24 says that, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful…are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings…”

Think about the last time someone told you something good that happened to them, or some good news in general. How did you feel while they were telling you? What about when you hear good news about earning a raise, or a better job? Doesn’t good news, whether it pertains directly to you or not, make you feel, well, GOOD?

It is important that we share good news with others.

Whether we realize it or not, our good news, or bad news, affects the lives of people around us. Why not be a creator, or at least a reporter, of the unacknowledged, unglorified, good news of nonprofit organizations? After all, it is good news that gives us hope for the world and for our own lives. A positive report lets humanity know that there is goodness in the world and sometimes that alone gets us through the hard times.

Nonprofits are forces for good.

Nonprofit organizations fill the voids and help heal the hurts of mankind. That seems like a lofty statement, but consider for a moment the impact World Vision or Compassion International has on the world. These two organizations alone have changed the lives of millions of children and families internationally. They help the weak, the poor, the hungry, the orphaned and widowed by not just giving them a “fish for the day, but teaching them how to fish”.

So, why do I write about nonprofits? I write because they are the ones out there doing the gruntwork, usually behind the scenes, out of the minds of the public, for the lowest pay (if they are payed at all!), working with the forgotten, abused, challenged, weak, sick people of society who others do not wish to acknowledge. I write to them, and for them, in gratitude for the great work they are doing. Even if they are never recognized this side of heaven for their good deeds, they continue, they press forward, in hope of bringing some morsel of joy to the world.

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The next feature story may be about Girl Scouts of America, and the impact this organization is having on young ladies in our communities. The United Way does extensive research on the organizations that they choose to support to validate the programs that ask for their financial aid. If the United Way supports Girl Scouts, it must be an honest and worthy non-profit.

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For any local PR students: The FPRA is having a round table meeting March 10th at 4:30 in the Sawgrass room at Southeastern University. It will be a great time for students to meet PR professionals and ask them questions about the business of Public Relations. Who knows…you may find your next employer!

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