Since Juliette Gordon Low founded the organization in 1911, Girl Scouts have been a part of Americana, serving as a platform for girls to take action in their communities and become leaders. Besides being featured in classic movies like The Addams Family and Whip It or outside grocery stores during cookie season, you can find (former) Girl Scouts in every branch of government, including Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Reverend Patti Oshita of the Sacramento Buddhist Church was a scout years ago when she lived in a small farming community in California. She was part of a singular troop of cadettes led by a creative mom who hosted troop dinners and took them camping. Oshita, who still has her scout uniform, says “during that time, I was shy, so Girl Scouts was something my parents pushed for me to do”.
In 1992, after seeing how there was only a Boy Scouts troop, Oshita and Judy Inaba asked the Sacramento Buddhist Church to sponsor one. Oshita says, “Our Temple Community has sponsored a Cub Scout Pack & Boy Scout Troop (50) for decades. We felt Girl Scouting would fill the ‘Scouting’ void for the girls in our community.”
Reflecting on the troop’s early beginnings, Oshita says that in addition to continuing the Girl Scouts practice of teaching girls about community service, leadership, organization, and public speaking skills, she wanted her troops “to be able to experience new activities they have never done before and hopefully develop lifetime friendships.” Taking her experience as a scout into her new role as a troop leader, Oshita worked on reaching out to shyer troop members. “I realized that as a girl, I was the shy kid, so I tried to reach out to these girls and helped them to mingle more.”
Starting out with nine scouts, Oshita and Inaba worked to create a larger troop (569) consisting of over 20 individual troops grouped by age. Each 569 troop hosts their own meetings where they organize activities, do community service, or make headway on the various awards the Girl Scout Organization has to offer. However, Troop 569, is still able to bring its troops ranging from k-12 together for events and ceremonies hosted by the Sacramento Buddhist Church at least three times a year.
As time went on, Troop 569 began to grow, and today it has about 200 scouts. Oshita believes this growth came from creating a place for girls to grow their leadership skills in their communities. “Having a successful, positive program generates interest and increased participation.” With over 20 leaders that she now manages, Oshita realizes that “having nurturing, responsible leadership is important, and with increasing participation, activity coordination and communication are essential.”
One part of Girl Scouting that requires a lot of organization and coordination is the annual Girl Scout cookie sales. For years, Troop 569 has sold more cookies than any other in the Central California chapter. In 1998, Troop 569 started selling 10,000 boxes annually, which only increased as time went on. Now, according to Oshita, the larger troop sells over 20,000 boxes a year.
The pandemic has taken a toll on almost every major organization, including the girl scouts. Like other troops, 569 can not hold in-person meetings or major events and ceremonies. Still, Oshita remains hopeful, saying “We have found that the girls are more resilient and able to adjust to change easier than us adult leaders.”
After COVID is over and things begin to go back to “normal” Oshita promises that her troops will make community service even more of a priority. She also hopes that more girls join 569. “There are two troops graduating this year, and one has thirteen girls. There’s no way we can get thirteen brand new scouts to join. I’m worried it’ll put a crimp on our program”.
In the future, Oshita hopes that scouts continue to grow and realize their full potential through the many programs put on at a national and county level. Currently, she is working with the national team at Girl Scouts USA to reach out and work towards understanding how to help scouts who are being impacted by the pandemic. To anyone interested in joining Troop 569, Oshita says, “You won’t regret it. The more you put into the program, the more you will gain from it.”