A Brownie Girl Scout troop in Pacific Beach is finding that the organization brings young women from different backgrounds together giving them direction and purpose through community-service projects.
Those projects have included volunteering at Feeding San Diego, making a sign for the Pacific Beach Elementary School garden, and beach cleanups.
“I have eight girls, all third graders, from local schools including PBES, St. Paul’s, and Toler elementary,” said Fadra Whyte McPhee, Brownie troop leader. “We found it has been a great way to get the girls in our neighborhood to get to know each other better. This is our second year of being a troop.”
Whyte McPhee said her troop meets monthly and that her girls are taught valuable lessons about important things, like appreciation for the natural environment.
“We’ve done beach cleanups, and our girls have been learning about the environment, and how important it is to take care of it,” she said.
A couple of girls said they really appreciate what they’ve learned from their troop.
PBES third-grader Gwen Weber, age 9, said: “I like being a Girl Scout because we get to do fun stuff like the beach cleanup we just did. It was great to help our environment and to make a better place for the animals in the ocean. I also like to spend time with my friends and help others.”
“I like being a Girl Scout because I like being with my friends, meeting new friends, and helping people,” said Corina McPhee. “Also, because we get to do fun activities like Annie’s Caynon, Camp Winacka, and beach cleanups.”
The Pacific Beach community has reacted positively to the troop’s efforts, noted Whyte McPhee. “I posted on Facebook that we didn’t have grabbers to pick up trash,” she said. “And we had three families come forward and let us borrow their grabbers, which allowed us to pick up trash at Law Street.”
The Brownie troop leader said they try to do service-oriented activities every two to three months on weekends. One recent activity involved a trip by the troop to Julian, where Whyte McPhee noted, “The girls were able to do archery, swimming, and fishing.”
She added their troop also is planning for an overnight campout in Balboa Park where there is a Girl Scout camp. “Mostly, I just really enjoy being able to see the families and their moms come together for these events,” said Whyte McPhee of the experience adding, “It also gets the kids outside what they normally do in their daily activities.”
Pointing out they are “the only Brownie troop in PB” right now, Whyte Mcphee noted that, in part, is because “starting your own troop is a lot of work in the beginning. But you can make it as easy – or hard – as you want. The Girl Scouts let you dictate how your troop will run. So there is a lot of flexibility. And the girls work really hard to give back to their community. It is really exciting to be able to share what they have been doing.”
GIRL SCOUT MISSION
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
