Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands Joins Congressman Jeff Duncan to Discuss The State of Girls

GREENVILLE,  SC – As part of a coordinated national effort, Boo Ramage, Board Member, and Susan Schneider, Director, PR & Advocacy, both with Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands, met with Congressman Jeff Duncan to share groundbreaking data compiled by the Girl Scout Research Institute on how girls are faring in our state as compared to other states across the country.

Photo: Boo Ramage, Board Member, Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands and Congressman Jeff Duncan, met in his Laurens office to discuss issues that impact the health and well-being of girls in our state.

Ramage and Schneider shared specific findings from The State of Girls: Unfinished Business, the first of its kind report that illustrates steep challenges faced by girls, ages 5 – 17, across the country.  Specific to South Carolina, it documents that our state ranks 38^th out of 50 on an overall index of well-being that includes measures of girls’ physical health and safety, economic well-being, education, emotional health, and extracurricular activities.

Also reviewed was the bipartisan, no-cost Child Protection Improvements Act (S. 1362/H.R. 3902) which would create a one-stop, nationally-accessible criminal background database system that would be made available to all youth-serving organizations.  Girl Scouts conducts background checks for volunteers and new employees, but there is no single, universal database available that includes Federal and State records.

States Kim Hutzell, President/CEO, Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands, “Partnering with members of Congress to work on legislation that impacts girls in our state is critically important.  We appreciate the time Congressman Duncan makes to meet with us.  He appreciates the complex, ever-changing needs of the girls we serve and the importance of elected officials to work with nonprofits such as Girl Scouts to make a positive difference in their overall well-being.”

Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands

For more than 102 years, Girl Scouting has helped girls develop positive values and become active, responsible leaders in their communities. With emphasis on personal growth and leadership development through service to others, Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of South Carolina-Mountains to Midlands serves approximately 11,500 girls, grades K5-12, and 4,700 adults in 22 counties of central and western South Carolina, including Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Sumter, and Union.