East County volunteers garnered eight honors at a recent Girl Scout recognitions program. Girl Scouts San Diego presented awards to Lynn Edmondson, Myrna Hinton, Ilene Korhummel, Sherry McElroy, Valerie Milbourne, Jessica Salla and Melissa Wehr during its Volunteer Conference and Celebration. In addition, the Rancho Foothills Service Unit—a volunteer-led support resource group for members in the Rancho San Diego, Jamul and El Cajon areas, won an award for being the most spirited team in attendance.
East County volunteers garnered eight honors at a recent Girl Scout recognitions program. Girl Scouts San Diego presented awards to Lynn Edmondson, Myrna Hinton, Ilene Korhummel, Sherry McElroy, Valerie Milbourne, Jessica Salla and Melissa Wehr during its Volunteer Conference and Celebration. In addition, the Rancho Foothills Service Unit—a volunteer-led support resource group for members in the Rancho San Diego, Jamul and El Cajon areas, won an award for being the most spirited team in attendance.
Nearly 500 Girl Scout members attended the event, which took place at the San Diego Convention Center on Aug. 15. Sponsored by Wells Fargo, it included a daylong conference featuring 31 training sessions, and an evening awards ceremony. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by a blue-ribbon panel of Girl Scout volunteers. The keynote speaker was Girl Scout alumna Mary Jean Anderson, owner and president of El Cajon-based Anderson Plumbing, Heating and Air.
Girl Scouts San Diego’s CEO Jo Dee Jacob, a resident of Jamul, welcomed guests to the evening program.
“This celebration is the highlight of the membership year for the Girl Scout staff,” she said. “We’re proud to partner with you!”
Edmondson, Hinton, McElroy, Milbourne and Wehr received Appreciation Pins for helping increase access, diversity, membership and visibility of Girl Scouting within their service units.
Edmondson and McElroy, a mother-daughter duo, co-lead Lemon Grove’s Troop 6152. They were honored for producing innovative events that recruit new members, recognize volunteers and empower girls to build skills by trying new things.
Hinton was recognized for her trainings that equip other leaders to manage troop funds supporting Girl Scout adventures. The El Cajon resident is treasurer for the Emerald El Cajon Service Unit, and a support volunteer for Troop 6804.
Milbourne also hails from El Cajon. During her two years as the Lakeside Service Unit registrar, she has helped increase Girl Scout membership in her area by twenty percent. Milbourne is also a Girl Scout Cookie Program volunteer.
Nominators described La Mesa resident Wehr as “the glue that holds the Rancho Foothills Service Unit together…whose sunny outlook and love for Girl Scouting lift cookie sales and troop participation.” Wehr serves as a cookie coordinator for her service unit.
Korhummel of Santee accepted the President’s Award on behalf of Magnolia Trails Service Unit, for which she serves as registrar. This was the fourth consecutive time the group won the award, which recognizes top-performing service units. Magnolia Trails was spotlighted for raising the bar in the community service arena. This year, its members collected food, cleaned beaches, adopted soldiers and participated in the Santee Street Fair. They also made “birthdays in a bag” for the Santee Food Bank, blankets for Project Linus, Thanksgiving placemats for a hospital, and personal hygiene kits for a shelter.
Salla, who lives in El Cajon, received a Cookie Award for dramatically increasing troop, girl and volunteer participation in the Girl Scout Cookie Program. In doing so, she helped increase cookie proceeds earned by troops for local Girl Scout activities.
Girl Scout cookie entrepreneurs also learn key skills like money management, goal setting, decision-making, people skills and business ethics. During her keynote address, Anderson stressed the importance of those lessons. She told stories of how her Girl Scouting experiences, including selling cookies and earning badges, helped her overcome personal obstacles and gain the confidence, business and leadership aptitudes she relies on today to run her award-winning company. Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air has 140 employees, many of whom are women managers and service technicians. Anderson perpetually gives back to the community—another characteristic she attributes to Girl Scouting. During the celebration, she commended the honorees and other volunteers in the audience for changing girls’ lives. She drew comparisons to her childhood Girl Scout leaders, whose names and far-reaching impact Anderson says she’ll never forget.
“You are that person who makes the difference, as did Mrs. Hansen, Mrs. Munson and Mrs. Rohr,” she told volunteers. “You will be remembered by people like me. And since I can’t say thank you to them, I sincerely want to say thank you to you!”
For information about joining Girl Scouts as a girl member or adult volunteer in the East County area, contact Ana Luisa Ponce, at (619) 610-0715, or aponce@sdgirlscouts.org, or visit www.girlscouts.org/join.
