EPSOM, NEW HAMPSHIRE| For 13 years, Brenda Marston of Epsom has given her all for Girl Scouts in her hometown. She has been either a leader or co-leader for every troop in Epsom, along with coordinating the annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale, helping girls take an active role to discover who they are, what they care about and take action to make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains have named her Volunteer of the Month for July.
Brenda first got involved with Girl Scouts when her daughter was in second grade, and it wasn’t long before she started volunteering her help. She started with Girl Scout fall product sales and helped with Troop 20406’s field trips. There are about 45 girls in the troop, from Daisies to Ambassadors. Girls have built confidence in themselves and learned entrepreneurial skills by earning money selling Girl Scout Cookies, which allows them to go to camp.
“It’s a very rewarding experience,” she said of her involvement with Girl Scouts. “A parent wrote this thing about how great it was, how her daughter is now outgoing, excited to come to meetings. Seeing the girls grow is exciting. One girl said that when she grows up, she wants to be a leader just like me!”
While noting that there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything she wants to with the girls, Brenda has managed to pack in a lot of activities for her troop.
She’s taken the girls camping and done an overnight badge blast with the older girls, where they stay at the Epsom town library and do a journey overnight. “We’re pretty fortunate. The library is our home,” she said. This summer, she is planning to do something once a month, such as a one-day hike. They have done a birthday celebration for Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts; World Thinking Day; a Superhero Night; holiday crafts; cookie swaps; a Powder Puff Derby; and a corn maze in the fall at Beech Hill Farms in Hopkinton.
“Brenda is an amazing leader and is truly in it for the girls,” said Kristin Bingham in her nomination. “She plans and organizes everything for every troop and doesn’t ask for a lot of help. Not only is she a leader, she is also the Cookie and Fall Product Coordinator for our town. Even though her daughter is now in college, Brenda continues to lead our troop and provide every girl with a positive learning, growing, educated, leading, caring experience. Without her, I am sure our program would suffer greatly. There is nothing Brenda would not do for any of the girls.”
Brenda’s best advice to girls: Be true to yourselves. “You can be anything you want to be.”
When girls succeed, so does society. Girl Scouts provides the tools girls need to not only dream big, but to achieve those dreams. Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains is proud of Brenda Marston for promoting G.I.R.L. (Go-Getter, Risk-Taker, Innovator, Leader)™ experiences.
