Pathfinder Kick-off Event

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Carissa

The “Guiding Year” is almost upon us now and registrations are going great in Burnaby Mountain District. We had our first day of promotion at Lougheed Town Centre today and will be back on Sunday, meeting the community.

We are especially promoting our Pathfinder unit at this time and have come up with an awesome way for girls of that age to try out a taste of our program to see if they’re a good fit before committing to registration.

Burnaby Mountain District presents…

Pathfinder Kick-Off Event

September 21-22, 2013

Have you ever thought about joining Girl Guides? It’s not too late! Pathfinders enjoy girl-centered programming focussed on the things that girls enjoy. Typical activities include outings, camping, community service, skill building, and arts. If you’re a 12-14 year old girl, try this taste of Pathfinder’s event without committing to joining the group – if you have fun, then you can register after!

Who: 12-14 year old girls

What: A tent-out and trip to the Richmond Night Market

Where: A Girl Guide property in Richmond

When: September 21-22

Cost: $15.00

(plus a recommended $10 to buy dinner at the market)

Interested in signing up? Contact webmaster@ggcburnabymountaindistrict.com for details. Come with a friend – maybe you’ll both want to join.

Ever thought of volunteering?

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Carissa

Girl Guides of Canada is a great organization to volunteer with. Guiding is about girls and women, and there are great opportunities for adults who get involved.

Here are some things you might not know about being involved as an adult member in Girl Guides:

There are thousands of dollars available in scholarships for adult members at any stage of their education
There are opportunities to travel abroad with or without girls (see Saffina’s trip to the UN, for example)
Some or all costs for outside trainings like First Aid and FoodSafe may be covered
Other trainings about camping, event planning, communication, and youth programming are offered
Various supports are available to help new leaders such as mentoring and online and in-person training
Little kids aren’t your thing? That’s okay! Volunteer with our older branches and work with teenagers
Link (18-30) and Trefoil (30+) are adult-only groups where women meet with their peers and pursue interests, volunteering, camping, and outings
Unable to commit to weekly meetings? Maybe you could get involved on a District or Area level where you’d attend a couple meetings a month and do the rest of the job from home.

Right now, our District is most desperate for Pathfinder (ages 12-14) leaders, but other units could use help as well. Contact us to find out how you can get involved.

We’d love to welcome you into the world’s largest organization for girls and women. We’re 10 million strong — that’s quite a community to be a part of!

West Coast Area is hosting an event called A Taste of Guiding for anyone who might be interested, but looking for more info. RSVP is requested so please contact us (via comment or e-mail) for details on how to do that.

A Taste of Guiding

Sept 7th 2013 10:00 AM — 12:30 PM
Richmond Guide House, 4780 Blundell Rd. Richmond (corner of Railway and Blundell)

Come & join us for a fun-filled session to find out what we have to offer. There will be camping, games, art, leadership, and much more. You won’t want to miss it!

There is no cost for this event. Refreshments will be provided.

Guider Participates in UN Commission on the Status of Women

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Carissa

Earlier this year one of our Guiders took part in an amazing opportunity where she was able to represent Girl Guides (and women, more generally) on the world stage. Saffina, a leader of the 47th Brownies, attended the 57th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, New York as a WAGGGS youth delegate. She was selected at the national level to participate in this event because of her dedication to Guiding as well as her personal accomplishments. Saffina majored in Women’s Studies and minored in Islamic History. She currently works at a local rape crisis center and crisis line as well as a youth detox facility and therefore has an ample understanding of the challenges girls and women face every day and their value to society. What an amazing role model to our girls!

Like many of the Guiders who take part in international opportunities, Saffina says that one of the highlights of her experience was meeting the other members from around the world. The delegation also featured World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) members from countries ranging from Pakistan to Malawi — a total of 13 countries were represented.

The delegation focussed on educating others and lobbying globally for girls rights in all aspects of life by promoting the “Stop the Violence” campaign. Saffina invites you to add your voice to this campaign by visiting http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/take_action/violence.

Saffina’s incredible contribution has already been featured on the Girl Guides of Canada national blog. See what she wrote about her trip here. You can also check out more information about the Commission on the Status of Women WAGGGS delegation here. The other members of her district are extremely proud of her. We couldn’t have asked for a better representative for such an important event.

Snow Camping at Seymour with Guider Roz

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Carissa

A special shout out goes to out to Guider Rosalinde, who is doing a year abroad at SFU from the UK where she is involved in Guiding at home. Rosalinde (affectionately known as Roz) has been working weekly with the 1st Sparks but she has also lent her time to other units including the 54th Brownies, the 12th Rangers, and the 2nd WCA Trex.

Guider Roz in the snow

The Trex unit recently went on a snow camping adventure where Rosalinde helpedbuild an igloo! Here’s what they had to say about the adventure:

The 2nd WCA Trex, also known as the Tyrannosaurus Trex, invited Guider Rosalinde, an SFU student visiting us from the U.K., to a snow camp on Mt. Seymour. We were the only group that managed to complete our igloo. Roz’s determination kept us working until after 11:00pm on Friday night. This hard work paid off. Everyone had an opportunity to sleep in the igloo. We were cozy and dry. The igloo took eight hours to build. One must slither like a seal to enter and exit the igloo as the floor is higher than the tunnel entrance. Many thanks to Lougheed Area and Adele Cooshek for organizing and inviting us to this well run camp. Camping in the snow was a blast!

Aquarium Sleepover

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Carissa

On February 23rd, Guides from our district took part in a sleepover at the Vancouver Aquarium. It was a fun and educational event for all.

The girls got to watch demonstrations involving dolphins. They are such cute and entertaining creatures.

The helpful and informative aquarium staff had lots of great information to share. The girls were certainly a captive audience audience.

One of the highlights was the hands-on activities that they were able to partake in. It was fun to feel the sticky arms of the sea anenomes and feel how a sea cucumber seems
like a blob of jello.

One of the most special things about this sleepover is that the sleeping happened next to the beluga tank. It was very tranquil watching the belugas swim around in their tank during the night with the ripples of light being reflected in the water.

Overall it was a memorable evening that will not be soon forgotten. The girls and leaders all had a great time. Thank you to the Vancouver Aquarium for offering such a great program.

Top 5 facts YOU need to know about GGC Scholarships!

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Carissa

Both girls and adults can apply! Whether you’re 17, 27, 37 or 47, any member heading to college or university full-time or part-time is eligible.
We have over 25 scholarships to award – our full-time scholarships are valued at $2,000 each, and our part-time scholarships are valued at $1,000 each.
There’s a scholarship that’s right for YOU. We have scholarships for specialized programs such as education, science and engineering, and general scholarships that support all other programs.
We’re looking for applicants who have a passion for Guiding, plan to continue their membership and are active in their community – and not necessarily those with the highest marks.
The application deadline is April 1, 2013. All members pursuing a post-secondary education are encouraged to apply. Guiders, please ensure that girls know about this great membership benefit.
Girl Guides of Canada Scholarships

Herritage Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Carissa

On December 17th, the 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks and the 54th Burnaby Mountain Brownies went on an outing to the Burnaby Village Museum Herritage Christmas. It was an especially exciting time because they invited families to join — since the museum is celebrating the 100th birthday of the carousel, admission was free so it was easy to have lots of people come out.

All together there were 32 girl members, another dozen or so siblings and cousins, and a bunch of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, and even a couple Guider husbands.

Girls went out in small groups to do a Christmas treat themed scavenger hunt and see such attractions as the blacksmith, the old fashioned movie theatre, a visit to traditional Father Christmas, and do a craft.

The highlight, of course, was the 100-year old carousel. They filled the carousel one and a half times!

Rangers in Victoria

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Carissa

The Golden Power Rangers went on their first camp of the year in Victoria, BC, staying at the Southern Vancouver Island Guide House from November 30th to December 2nd. GPR Victoria 2

The small but fun group enjoyed activities such as healthy meal substitutions, clothing design. The camp was co-planned by the Rangers themselves who got a wealth of experience figuring out activities in Victoria.

Considering healthy meal substitutions

One highlight was a tour around the Parliament Building led by the local MLA Carol James where they got to see the restricted to public Chamber of Commons, and much more.

Meeting the MLA

On their last night they went for a night out on the town to enjoy the truck parade held annually for Christmas and watched the boats light up in the harbour. In addition, the group of 11th graders went to the University of Victoria for a tour to familiarize themselves with the options they have for local universities in their future!

Book In Baby

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Carissa

One of our adult members has recently returned from an amazing 12 week volunteer experience at Girl Guides’ World Centre Sangam in Pune, India.

Don’t worry, we’ll get a post up here soon with some of her pictures and thoughts. But in the meantime, check out this video about “booking in” to visit Sangam. If you look closely you’ll see Chelsea in two scenes (hint: the first one is the image you see below and in the other she’s standing there watching people do a silly dance).

Brought to you all the way from India…

Iron Chef Competition at Woodward’s Landing

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Carissa

A few weeks ago (October 27th), the 12th Burnaby Mountain Rangers participated in West Coast Area’s Iron Chef competition. Girls in groups of 4-6 were asked to prepare a three course meal on camping cooking equipment using the secret ingredients provided.

This late-October event had a Halloween theme. One of the guest judges, Mijune Pak (of FollowMeFoodie blogging fame!) posted about the event, including plenty of pictures. Check out her post here!

Our Rangers won a certificate for Best Food Descriptions — check out some of their work!

: Main Course Menu Card — Photo credit: Follow Me Foodie

And the food that accompanies it! — Photo credit: Follow Me Foodie

One of our adult members, Co-Treasurer Niki, attended as a judge as well. She said that the event was tonnes of fun and that nobody even noticed the rainy weather.

: Judges Mijune (left) and Niki (right) tasting somebody’s entry — Photo credit: West Coast Area

Big thank yous go out to all the hardworking individuals at West Coast Area who helped to plan and execute this awesome activity for older girls. It was a really fun day.

Burnaby Mountain District

Register today at www.girlguides.ca!

Tag Archives: Girl Guides