U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Lisa Moore with her former Girl Scout leader, Grace VanDeveer of Norfolk, Va. After more than 20 years, the two were reunited at the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast annual meeting gathering.

Girl Scout Council of
Colonial Coast

Special Section: Combined Federal Campaign 2009

Girl Scouts Builds Leaders Who Make a Difference

By Marcella Germanotta
Communications Director, Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast

Lisa Moore, chair of the Interdisciplinary Department at Regent University and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, is thankful for what Girl Scouts provided her growing up. Like many other women in leadership roles, she feels Girl Scouting played a part in her ability to take on responsibility and accept challenges in her career.

“As a Girl Scout, I learned that if you didn’t bring enough water or you didn’t bring enough food, then you didn’t have it with you on the side of a mountain when camp was set up,” Moore said. “Being resourceful and acting responsibly are skills I still use today.”

Moore is among the hundreds of women who volunteer to bring the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to girls. She serves on the board of directors for the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast and helps direct the services the council offers to almost 16,500 girls in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

She started volunteering with Girl Scouts while at Fort Dix in New Jersey. When an area troop needed a leader, Moore stepped up. She said the time spent with the troop on base was just as valuable for her as it was for the girls.

“Girl Scout meetings were a diversion from the everyday Army schedule,” Moore said. “I was able to bring new experiences for the girls, take them on trips and help them gain skills that only Girl Scouting offers. I stuck with it because I could see the girls really grow and blossom and start thinking about who they were and what they wanted to become.”

Now as a board member, Moore is helping the council offer programs that direct girls to science, math and technology – fields in which she feels confident and wants more girls to enter. She is also helping raise funds. Even while she was serving in Iraq in 2008, Moore helped plan Desserts First, one of the largest fundraisers the council conducts annually.

“I still get a lot from Girl Scouts,” Moore said. “I’m still carrying away tools I can use in leading and teaching others. Girl Scouting, like life, has endless possibilities. And just like life, it is up to each of us to find our way and take what we want. There are so many ways adults can become involved. There are more choices and more reasons to volunteer and help than ever before.”

Tracy Keller, the Council’s chief executive officer and a product of a military family, said Girl Scouts and the military have formed a tight bond of service and dedication.

“We have so many programs that have been enriched because of the military,” Keller said. “We offered a day camp at the Coast Guard base in Elizabeth City this summer, and we have had units from the Marines come out and help clean up Camp Darden in Franklin. There are so many ways military members can become involved and help – either in a troop setting, at camp or by offering special skills and talents, such as instructing or providing first aid.”

For more information about the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast, visit their Web site at www.gsccc.org or call 547-4405.

To support the Girl Scouts Council of Colonial Coast, designate CFC #59158.