In this guest blog series, we’d like to introduce you to a few members from our Girl Scout Go-Getters team, which will be participating in the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Our final post is from Rebecca Brewer…

Why am I running for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana?

Well, it was THAT moment that did it. You know the one.  The moment in which you remember a distant experience from the past and realize the deep influence it had been quietly making, your whole life.

It was late 2014 and as an adult settling into a new city, I longed for a new volunteer opportunity. The local Girl Scout council crossed my path. After just a few short weeks into my troop leader journey, I felt overwhelmed with the realization of the impact my own distant Girl Scout years had made in my life.

As a girl, I enjoyed a few wonderful years as a Girl Scout Brownie and, later, a Girl Scout Junior. I remember my first camping trip, many chatter-filled troop meetings, the joyful pride of completing projects around our community, and looking at all of the different badges available, eagerly choosing the next one.

Finally, there was the unforgettable feeling that only comes from exceeding one’s goals, cookie sale goals that is.  This, of course, achieved after many long walks through the neighborhood getting orders, the careful organization, labeling, and bagging of the orders, and then the longer walks to deliver cookies while the family station wagon – packed full of orders – crawled along the evening lit street.

My parents, church, and school all taught me about friendship, honesty, the value and reward of hard work, and the joy of doing something you really really love, but Girl Scouts allowed me to experience the deep impact of those values. When I became an adult, I was ready to take on my career and own my world.

Like many girls, my Girl Scout days faded slowly behind the experiences of high school, college, and starting a career. But when I was reviewing all of the fun options I had available to me as a Girl Scout leader — to pass on the same Girl Scout Promise, Law, and values I had learned so many year before — I became profoundly aware that they had always been a part of my motivation and drive and I reveled in recalling all that they had inspired me to achieve, so far.

And now, what would the girls in my troop do with it? How would they impact their communities and the world? I became so excited for them, and the future!

Over the decades, Girl Scouts continues to be a place where girls can learn who they are, what they love about life, and explore the interest of the present moment! They learn and grow alongside other girls, guided by women and men who believe that, in every girl, lies a leader, a game changer, and a history maker!  I love that I get to be a part of it all!

I’m running in the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon for the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana because the girls of today are the women the world will need tomorrow! It is a unique forum that offers something for every girl, no matter her interest, her ability, or her current circumstances. Every girl can become the woman she wants to be – that’s the opportunity that Girl Scouts provides.

To learn more about you can support Kassie and the Girl Scout Go-Getters, please click here.