Earlier this week, the district commissioner for Airdrie Girl Guides posted a plea to a number of community Facebook pages, looking for people to step forward as volunteer leaders.

Denise Cruz, District Commissioner for Goldenfields District, said currently Airdrie Girl Guides has 300 girls registered. While she already has some great leaders, there just aren't enough to keep up with the number of girls that want to start guiding.

"We have a really great base. We have 75 ladies who put countless hours in and some of them run multiple units and they are still looking for new leaders. We can't keep up with it, the girls are getting wait listed."

Cruz said there are currently 20 girls on the wait list, but as autumn approaches that number will increase. In order to keep up with the demand, Cruz needed more people to step up and volunteer as leaders.

"You can't let units get too large or it gets overwhelming for the leaders that are currently there, plus we have a ratio that we need to keep, so we're looking for additional leaders and additional meeting spaces to open new units."

In younger branches like Brownies and Sparks, there needs to be an eight to one ratio of girls to leaders, and that ratio goes to five to one if they hold a sleepover. For older branches that have more mature girls, the ratio is fifteen to one. Cruz said they try to keep their Sparks units at between 16 and 18 girls, and currently all their Brownie units are maxed out at 24 girls. Additionally, leaders cannot be alone with the girls for safety reasons, so every unit needs a minimum of two and ideally three leaders.

Cruz said since she made her online pleas, she has been overwhelmed by the number of people that have stepped forward to volunteer. She said they can always use more volunteers, and now a specific need is meeting places for the units so that they don't have to turn away any girls.

Among the benefits of guiding, according to Cruz, is the development of deep friendships. There are other valuable lessons as well.

"It also teaches them amazing confidence and competency in different events like kayaking and canoeing. We offer overnights which of course build independence from their parents, as well as skills such as sewing and cooking and outdoor cooking."

While guiding has been in decline around Canada, Cruz said numbers are actually growing in Alberta, and that is especially true in Airdrie.

 

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