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The Mitchell Girl Guides is a program for young girls. It lets them develop life skills and is a great place to make friends.
Teresa Mistelbacher was a Girl Guide as a child. She did the first three levels: Sparks (ages 5-6), Brownies (ages 7-8), and then Guides (ages 9-11).
She is now leading a group of Girl Guides, as her daughter Autumn wanted to try it out.
"Now that my oldest daughter is 5, she wanted to try sparks. So we gave it a try last year through their Try Now Join Later program and I joined as a leader this year.”
They get together once a week and do a lot of community service projects.
"Every week we focus on building different skills for the girls. Personal skills, life skills, and giving back to our community.”
She says she gained a lot from the program as a kid.
“A lot of camping skills, a love for nature, a lot of friends, and opportunities to try things. It's nice to be a part of a group, but also develop your individual skills.”
Mistelbacher’s daughter Autumn loves being a Girl Guide.
“I love being a Girl Guide because I get to go up to doors and sell cookies and sell more and more.”
Another Girl Guide, Olivia, says she really enjoys all of the volunteering they do throughout the community.
“I love how we did a food drive for Soup's On, and we volunteered to make lunches for kids. I'm also really looking forward to going to Pat Porter to make stockings for seniors,” she says. “We do a lot of other things that also help. We did this toy drive last Christmas for kids, so those kids will have toys."
Mistelbacher says they are currently doing a cookie campaign for their mint chocolate cookies, so look forward to getting a knock on your door from some Girl Guides asking you if you’d like to give your support.
"If you're interested, we've got lots of cookies left. You'll also see the sandwich cookies. Chocolate and vanilla come out in the spring.”