Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana recently received a $5,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation to support the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE) in Cass, Fulton, Huntington, Kosciusko, Miami, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.
The GSLE focuses on building skills in four areas: STEM, the outdoors, life skills and entrepreneurship.
Highlights of recent Girl Scout troop activities held in these counties included:
• Troop 53015 in Huntington County decorated Valentine’s cookies and colored pictures for a local nursing home in February 2025. In December 2024 the troop met the mayor of Huntington, Richard Strick, and learned about the work he’s doing to make the city even better.
• Girl Scout Kaitlyn Stafford of Bluffton (Wells County) earned her Gold Award in 2024 with a project that provides habitats and protects birds, bats and winged pollinators with a focus on visitors to Oubache State Park.
• Girl Scout Kenzie Sanderson of Columbia City (Whitley County) also earned her Gold Award by creating a Little Free Library in downtown Columbia City to provide free, accessible books and reduce summer learning loss for children. The library opened Sept. 1, 2024, at Every Kids Dreamland Park.
• Troop 10385 in Columbia City (Whitley County) met with Mayor Ryan Daniel in February 2024, received a tour and exchanged Girl Scout Cookies.
• In May 2024 the Girl Experiences team hosted 50 fourth-graders from Columbia Elementary in Logansport (Cass County), who participated in a Magical Moment at Camp Wildwood, a day focused on emotional intelligence and mental health.
• At Camp Logan (Kosciusko County), Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana repaired storm damage to the camp’s historic Program Building and in the process made updates that enhanced its year-round usability.
"We appreciate Duke Energy's longtime loyal investment in developing female leadership in our council, dating back to 2015," said GSNI-M CEO Sharon Pohly.
“We’re happy to support the Girl Scouts and their activities, which are clearly focused on boosting their communities both today and in the future,” said Duke Energy Government and Community Relations Manager Jenny Jordan. “These young women and their leadership are to be commended for taking such an active role in improving Hoosiers’ well-being.”
To learn more about Girl Scouts and register, visit www.gsnim.org.