It's Your Camp--Love it!

AmeriCorps Member Emma Gifford with CEO of

Girl Scouts of the USA, Anna Maria Chávez

My AmeriCorps term with the Willow Springs Program Center and the Girl Scouts of Arizona Cactus- Pine has been phenomenal! I’ve gotten the chance to interact with girls, adult volunteers, and other staff members through playing outside, throwing snow balls, cooking over a fire, shooting at the archery range, hiking at night to see the Milky Way, and singing silly camp songs. Now that the snow has melted and my term of service is quickly coming to an end, I am excited to support staff in preparing for what is going to be an amazing camp season this summer.

Willow Springs will be hosting 8 weeks of residential and day summer camp programs starting the first week of June. These programs are offered for girls in grades K-12 throughout the state of Arizona.  All girls will receive an earned award during their stay at camp. All girls participating in the weeklong camps at Willow Springs will participate in arts and crafts, ceramics, group games, evening activities, cook-outs, and hiking. All girls in 4^th grade and up will participate in archery. Our other program offerings include everything from learning science, fashion, art projects, clay work, aviation, drama, dance, and astronomy. Girls who have an interest in all things camp related can also sign up for one of our sampler programs and get a taste of everything!

We also have leadership opportunities for older girls. These include the Oxford Leadership Youth Program where teen women will get a chance to tell their story, discover what is important to them, and find their spark all while participating in a variety of typical camp activities. Teen women can also sign up to be a Counselor in Training (CIT) where they’ll get the chance to learn about leadership, teamwork, child development and more as they help in the units and program areas while also enjoying the camp experience through their own program opportunities.

Lastly, for girls and families who don’t have a lot of time this summer or aren’t sure if camp is the right place for them—experience camp programs with your troop or family! Willow Springs hosts troop camp, family camp, “Me and my Gal”, and “Me and my Pal” programming.  All participants will get to try out the gamut of program offerings, sleep in cabins, and receive a participation patch celebrating their time spent at camp.

For more information check out the camp brochure at www.girlscoutsaz.org/summer-camp-2012

At this website you can find information for Willow Springs as well as 3 other camps throughout the state of Arizona. Also, you’ll find contact information for the directors, prices, information on scholarships, available dates, session information, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Or check out our video!

Beaver Creek Family Game Day

VISTA Member Ashley Johns

While working at the Beaver Creek Adult Center I strive to get this organization’s name out there, and connect them more with the community.  Our first small step was when I set up “Chicken Surprise Bingo” at the Ranch House Round Up to help advertise and fundraise for the Center.  We made a whopping 40 something dollars that we split with Beaver Creek Transit, but people took information about the Center and said they would check us out.  Our first big step was becoming an integral part of the Halloween Spooktacular event where we opened our doors to provide a haunted kitchen and cookie decorating for the area children.  It also helped that I coordinated this event and am based at the Center!  Since then we have been brainstorming new activities to bring more community members to our Center, some of which have already kicked off, like Zumba Gold which we host twice a week now.

Beaver Creek community members playing with the Wii

The newest addition to our fun activities line up is Family Game Day which will hopefully be a monthly event happening every third Saturday of the month.  April is our kick off month for this project and I am very nervous and excited to see it all come together!  In December I found out about a grant from MATFORCE that provides funding for programs to help keep kids off drugs.  I had previously been talking to a Board member and a Founder of the Center about a game day and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to branch out.  I approached the Board with the idea to open the Center to the community and encourage families and children to come and spend an afternoon with us.  They liked the idea and let me run with it, and in January we were awarded the grant to start the program!  Since then I have purchased a Wii for the Center which is available during all open hours and I have taught many members and volunteers how to play.  We also updated our collection of board games, and attendees of Game Day will be able to choose a game to play as a group.  We now have Yahtzee, checkers, Phase 10, Apples to Apples, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry!, and a Curious George memory game for the little ones.  And don’t worry, we didn’t forget about the toddlers and little kids!  Besides the games we will have a corner dedicated to the smaller children with coloring pages, crayons, and stuffed animals.  Meanwhile, parents, older children, and community members will teach each other new games and meet new people.  We will of course have snacks too, and I hope that this puts the Beaver Creek Adult Center in a new light and makes it more welcoming to community members of all ages!

Prescott Area Women's Shelter Presents Women's Afternoon Tea

I am excited to announce that tickets are now on sale for the Prescott Area Women’s Shelter’s most popular event:  “Women’s Afternoon Tea.” In addition to delicious teas, tasty tea sandwiches and delectable desserts, there will be a silent auction, raffle and a keynote address by Elisabeth Ruffner. The event will take place Saturday, June 2nd from 1-3pm at the Adult Center of Prescott.  Tickets are $30 a person.  To purchase tickets contact Patricia Brockert at 928.541.0063 or irishpatmike@centurylink.net.

All proceeds will go to the shelter, helping us to help the most vulnerable in our community. In three years, the Prescott Area Women’s shelter has helped 574 women and 47 children transition out of homelessness and into safe housing. We are continuing to make improvements in the shelter; creating a Women In Transition Program that will take a holistic look at every step that needs to be taken for a women to transition to safe housing; including: insuring their physical health through helping women afford co-pays for medicines and appointments, insuring their mental health by referring them to counseling centers, making sure they are financially saavy through their involvement in our Successful Lives Program and more.

I have been working on creating “Transitional Resources” folders for every women in our shelter to take with them when they leave for better opportunities. We are also working towards trying to get funding to help women get on their feet by helping them to pay for rental applications and providing utility support.

The shelter has come a long way in three years, and I feel so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to watch it grow its impact in Yavapai County and surrounding communities.