[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4104]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING 90 YEARS OF GIRL SCOUTING

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                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2002

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 90th 
anniversary of the Girl Scouts organization. In the past 90 years, this 
organization has grown to a 3.8 million membership, making it the 
largest organization for girls in the world. Girl Scouts is a worldwide 
family of 10 million girls and adults in 140 countries. This 
organization should be honored for all the wonderful things it does to 
help empower our young girls.
  Specifically, I would like to share with you the contributions of the 
Girl Scouts Fair Winds Council that serves over 11,000 girls in my 
congressional district. The Fair Winds Council has two programs that I 
would like to talk about today. Both of these programs help empower 
young girls to rise above the status quo and become better citizens.
  The first program I would like to talk about is Faces, a program 
developed in my hometown of Flint, MI. This program serves inner city 
girls, who come from single-family households and Faces attempts to 
break these young women out of the cycle of living in poverty by 
mentoring and doing community activities. Most notably, the young girls 
get to choose as a group two colleges or universities they would like 
to visit. Then through corporate sponsorships, these girls get an all 
expense paid trip to their choices. Last year 40 girls went on this 
trip. After the trip, these girls get help with filling out 
applications forms for college and with finding scholarships. Since 
this program began, 80 percent of its members have gone to college.
  The second program, Fostering Issues, takes Girl Scouting to girls 
who are in foster care. Many of these young girls in foster care feel 
alone and afraid, and through this program, girls in the foster care 
system develop friendships. Through these friendships, these girls 
begin to develop social skills and trust in other people. They begin to 
develop self-esteem and believe that they too can become an important 
part of society.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in 
recognizing the truly amazing contributions the Fair Winds Council 
makes in my community. I invite my colleagues to find out all the 
wonderful things the Girl Scouts organization is doing in their own 
districts and commend them for 90 years of service to our communities.

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