How You Can Help
Camp there!Girl Scout Camp is the heart of Girl Scouting. It's the place where a group of girls live their life skills together, where cabinmates become family, where memories are created that last a lifetime.
Bring your troop to Crowell Hilaka. Encourage your service unit to camp there. Invite others to join the Girl Scout family. Help a leader, BE a leader. Troop or short term program. Bring friends to programs at Crowell Hilaka.
Tell the GSNEO Board of Directors your opinion!
GSNEO has established an online "customer survey" on its website. It is not a questionnaire as much as a feedback form. Anyone can write anything , good or bad. Right at this point in time, the board is making a determination on which properties to keep and which to relinquish.
Friends of Crowell Hilaka and Camp Friends (Great Trail) have submitted a proposal to the GSNEO board that these two camps be fully utilized. Support letters from other members submitted to the GSNEO board or on the customer service survey would reinforce the proposal.
The currently closed South half of C/H features the former estate of inventor James B. KIrby. It includes the millwheel, the swinging bridge, Crickets Corner, the dance hall, Kirby House, and the patented lake - all unique historic structures designed by Kirby. They are an inspiration in problem-solving and ingenuity. They are a great asset for programming. In addition, the two ground tent units, Mable Smith and High Lea, have shelters that were specifically designed for their sites and are wonderful places to hold programs.
On the North side, we really need our dining hall and administration buildings re-opened for use; as well as additional troop sites.
One of the arguments against re-opening all of Crowell Hilaka is that GSNEO also owns Camp Ledgewood, which is only about 10 miles away. Ledgewood is indeed a nice site, and beloved by generations of Girl Scouts from the legacy Western Reserve Council. But it is very different from Crowell Hilaka. AND, if GSNEO hopes to truly serve an 18 county area, it needs both of its centrally located camps as well as the other 5 camps that it operates.
The underlying issue is whether Girl Scouting really needs to focus so much on camping. GSUSA is working to develop many alternative programs to provide a basis for future sustainability. Our belief as FoCH members, is that GS camp is an extremely valuable program for girls, and that it is one of the things that makes Girl Scouting unique. We feel that as kids become more tech-savvy and electronically connected, there is a LARGER need for programs that promote connection with nature, life skills, personal responsibility, and face-to-face relationships - all of which are instilled at camp in a way that is not possible in any other setting.
Volunteer at a camp program or project!
Volunteer opportunities include:
Click here for more details on projects at camp
Join the Friends of Crowell/Hilaka
Your membership on the Yahoo group adds to our "strength in numbers".
Membership options:
Click here for more information!
Camps cost money to run and maintain. If GSNEO cannot afford to maintain its camps, they will have to let them go - even if they don't want to. Talk with a council representative about how to make sure that YOUR donation can be directed as you wish. Money donated to FoCH goes to volunteer-run girl programs, and/or camp improvement projects.
The Richfield Historical Society, a 501(C)3 organization, has agreed to act as FoCH's financial sponsor. That means that if you contribute to RHS and specify that the money is for FoCH, you can deduct the contribution from your income tax, and RHS will pass the money to us!