Girl Scouting runs through this family’s bloodline

RAYMOND, NH – When you’re part of a family that has five generations of Girl Scouts, it’s easy to appreciate the value of the Girl Scout experience. Jill Galus has made the most of that experience and is now the Volunteer of the Month for May for Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, the council serving Girl Scouts in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Galus, 55, of Raymond, is the fourth of the five generations and a troop leader. “I loved growing up in a Girl Scout family!” she said.

Her grandmother started in Girl Scouts in 1935 and was a trainer for other Girl Scout leaders. Her aunt started in 1921, just nine years after its founding by Juliette Gordon Low. Galus’s mother started Girl Scouts in 1956, Galus herself in 1976, and her daughter, now a graduated Gold Award Girl Scout, pretty much as an infant.

When Galus joined as a girl, her family was stationed in Germany. “Being a military family,” she said, “it was great, because everywhere we moved to, I had friends. I went to Girl Scouts, and it was just a smooth integration into the community.”

As her mother was involved at the council level and her grandmother led a training camp at her home, the family was immersed in Girl Scouting. The outdoors was a big part of life. Galus has trained many current and former Girl Scout leaders through the council’s outdoor education programs.

“You learn to rely on yourself” in the outdoors, she said. “You’re empowered because you know how to do it.”

She has imparted that independence to her own Girl Scouts, who enjoy camping and traveling. At camp, she sees the excitement when they get something to work and the determination to conquer what doesn’t.

“We spent a week camping in Maine,” she said, “and they always wanted their own independent time to go off, so we had our own quiet time every day after lunch. But they’d always come back, and they’d always want to talk with the girl who was really good at making fires. They called her Dragon Breath because she could just whisper that fire right to life!”

While Troop 10435 in Raymond currently has dwindled to two members with one from another troop participating, Galus has mentored girls from the kindergarten level of Daisy up to the 12^th-grade Ambassador level, keeping the troop girl-led.

Through the Girl Scout Cookie program and Fall Product program, her Girl Scouts planned, paid for, and carried out trips to New York City, London, and more places. They even had the goal of camping in every state in New England.

“We went to a Broadway show, which is always our focus,” she said. “We did behind-the-scenes tours, met the cast, met the crew, went out to dinners. We did two scavenger hunts of town.”

The girls had decided in second grade that they wanted to go to the Girl Scout World Center called Our Chalet in Switzerland by 10^th grade. One actually did travel there, Galus’s daughter, Niko.

While it is a lot of work, Galus said Girl Scout Cookie season is her favorite.

“I like seeing cookies from behind the scenes,” she said. “I like that the girls can set goals. The troop sets a goal, the individual member sets a goal, and it all comes together through cookies. And the girls do everything that’s possible to fund their trips, to fund their adventures. We did London for six people on cookies. All that the girls’ parents had to do was buy the passport.”

On that London trip, Galus said, one girl stopped in the middle of a busy sidewalk to marvel that three months earlier they didn’t think they would have enough money to go on the trip. They sold 3,000 extra packages of cookies and made it happen. Her Girl Scouts supported each other, learning from each other’s strengths, whether it’s connecting with customers, upselling, or making change.

One traveler, a 7^th-grader, decided to plan a whole special day of the London trip, including snacks and traveling 45 minutes outside of London.

“Jill has been instrumental during cookie season, stepping into the cookie product sales coordinator role and providing essential support to her service unit troops,” said Amanda Cordero, the council’s community membership lead. “She is an active recruiter who is constantly seeking new ways to engage girls and foster a strong sense of Girl Scout sisterhood. Her troop are avid travelers and are working through their higher awards under her guidance. Overall, Jill is a passionate leader who encourages every girl to reach high and achieve their goals.”

Galus loves being a troop leader, helping girls discover her power within, giving them the opportunities to explore the possibilities their lives can open up to.

“That’s what’s fun about being a leader,” she said.

Girl Scouting is an opportunity for both girls and caregivers to make friends, widen their world, and make their communities a better place. Learn more at www.girlscoutsgwm.org.

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Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains serves girls throughout New Hampshire and Vermont through volunteer-run troops, events, and virtual programs. Visit www.girlscoutsgwm.org to learn more.