When her daughter was born, Jen Betts knew she wanted her to be involved in Girl Scouts. Betts had been a Brownie and Junior as a young girl, and she understood firsthand the value of Girl Scouting.
“I love everything about Girl Scouts,” said the volunteer appreciation award honoree. “It balances my life.” Volunteering with Girl Scouts gives Betts an opportunity to help girls proactively develop life skills and handle life’s stressors, something she deals with in her day job as a child psychologist, she said.
Betts, who lives in Luzerne County, has been a leader of troops from Daisies through Cadettes, and next year, she will lead a troop of Seniors. She has also served as a cookie chair for her Service Unit for seven years, has been a delegate and alternate delegate and participates as a camp counselor at Camp Archbald in the summer, where she goes by the camp name “Banana.”
She’s made many memories with Girl Scouts, including her first year as a counselor at Camp Archbald. The weather might not have cooperated, but Betts said it was a crazy and fun time anyway. “It poured all week,” she recalled. “We are always soaked.”
When she’s not at work or volunteering with Girl Scouts, Betts loves to spend time with her family, which includes her husband, Cody, and her daughter, Annabella. Cody, Betts said, is “man enough to be a Girl Scout and a current delegate,” and Annabella will bridge to Seniors this year. The family also includes a French bulldog named Beignet. “He loves to go on hikes with the Girl Scouts,” Betts shared.
Along with Girl Scouts, her other love is a sport called flowboarding, which describes as a combination of surfing and bodyboarding on a manmade wave. She discovered the sport five years ago and decided to challenge herself to try it. “Last year, I won the national championship in the women’s amateur bodyboard division. This year, I will compete in the pro division,” she said. “I hope to inspire more girls to participate.”
Betts encourages girls to join Girl Scouts and adults to volunteer as well. “You won’t regret it,” she said. “There are so many things to do and try. Each troop is what you make it. Do you want to do lots of outdoor stuff? Do it! Tech stuff? Do it! Volunteer work? You can! And you can do it all with your best friends while having a great time.”
In fact, Betts says that’s one of her favorite things about Girl Scouts—the opportunity to “make new friends and keep the old.”
“Girl Scout gives girls a ready-made group of friends to support them wherever they move around the world,” she said, noting that Girl Scouts provides non-competitive activities for kids. “What’s not to love?”
Written by Cathy Molitoris, Marketing Coordinator for Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania.
GSHPA Blog 