Message from the CEO
Dear GSLPG Membership,
We hope you and your family are safe and well. Unfortunately, we
know many of you are still recovering from one of the most impactful
and devastating weather events in recent history, and we want to make
sure everyone in our Girl Scout family is okay, so please reach out to
your support staff if you haven't already. Equally important, know
that you are in our thoughts and prayers.
Nevertheless, recovery from Hurricane Laura is ongoing and
encompassing. We have been reaching out to our most heavily affected
communities to assess the needs of our membership and working to
determine how best we can be of aid.
Over the last two weeks, we have all had the opportunity to witness
the immense devastation that occurred in Calcasieu and Cameron parish.
Our hearts truly go out to the community and our Girl Scout members
who call those parishes home. It is also important that we bring
awareness that many more areas were not spared from Hurricane Laura's
devastation. Almost half of our council has been directly touched by
Laura’s destruction; 24 of the 42 Parishes we serve throughout the
state have been designated as disaster areas, accounting for 2,796 of
our members.
Our Lake Charles Service Center Staff were all affected but are all
safe. The Lake Charles Service Center sustained heavy damage and will
remain closed for the foreseeable future, as structures may need to be
rebuilt. Though most of our Lake Charles staff have either been
displaced or left with limited resources, they have continued working
to provide services to families in the area who are facing the same
difficulties. We want you to know that you can still reach out to us
with any needs you may have; you can continue to contact us at info@gslpg.org or at 800-060-2093. If we
are unable to connect you with your regular contact in the Lake
Charles area, we will connect you with the next available staff
member who can help.
We also want you to know that we are evaluating the situation at
both of our camps. Currently, Camp Bon Temps is open for limited use
according to COVID-19 guidelines, and it is also currently housing a
displaced staff member and their family. Camp Wawbansee saw
substantial damage from the storm. Multiple downed trees and
electrical wires have the left the camp closed for now, but we do hope
to coordinate cleanup efforts, in accordance with COVID-19 safety
guidelines, once the camp is safe again.
With regard to GSLPG’s relief efforts, we are currently working to
coordinate support efforts across the state. We hope to work with our
community partners including United Ways, food banks, volunteer
organizations from across the state, and other Girl Scout councils who
seek to lend a helping hand, to gather and distribute food, supplies,
and monetary aid to those who need it most.
We have also established a GSLPG
Hurricane Relief Fund specifically for our membership to help
with replacing uniforms and Girl Scout materials, providing
membership/dues scholarships, and ensuring girls can continue their
Girl Scout experience while supporting them through the many facets of recovery.
Through all of the uncertainty brought by this storm, there is one thing we know for sure: we are Girl
Scouts. We are a community of go-getters who look for opportunities to
step up and lead to take care of one another and our neighbors. And we
know so many of you have already been demonstrating this Girl Scout
Strong spirit. We have heard the stories of girls setting up food
drives, collecting supplies, and doing whatever they can to help their
hurting communities. We applaud this initiative and urge you to
continue meeting the needs that you can and
share with
us the work you’ve done in your own neighborhoods and beyond.
To further assist in activating the Girl Scout sisterhood, we are
working to establish a formal avenue to connect affected troops with
Girl Scouts from around the country who want to help. We hope you will
take this resource and join us in working to aid our sister Girl
Scouts in need all around Louisiana. In the meantime, check out this
list of state and local resources already on the ground and able
to offer assistance to those who need it, and check this page
frequently for updates on local relief efforts.
We know that this year seems to have been crisis upon crisis, and
that having a hurricane come through on top of it all can just make
everything that much more overwhelming. We want you to know though
that we are here for you. Girl Scouts isn’t going anywhere, and we
will do our best to serve as a space of normalcy for girls whose
worlds are turning upside down right now. We are Girl Scout strong,
and we will be here when you need us.
Yours in Girl Scouting,
