Girl Topia - Take Action Project

I have finished my Girltopia journey. The take action project for this journey was by far the hardest, yet the greatest project I have ever helped put together. For this journey I was supposed to put together and implement a take action project to better someone’s lifestyle.

            So I took the trip to Ghana to its highest and planted trees with the Ghana Girl Guides. Planting trees was a great experience but putting together the project was an experience in itself as well.

            I contacted the various contacts at the World Association Girl Guides and Girl Scouting to get a contact in Ghana – the first was in March.  It was very frustrating over the next few months trying to get the Ghana Girl Guides and then to get a contact in the area of the country that we would be located. I didn’t know that it would be close to four months before I be able to actually get the plan in place. We emailed a little back and forth and found a date for the planting that worked. That’s when I wrote a grant from WAGGGS and a mini grant from Discover Green. As part of my application process – I was asking about the budget – what were going to be the cost.  I got deeply discouraged by the numbers I received from my Ghana contact.  To the point I was sure the project wasn’t going to happen.

            I let the adult who was leading my trip know and she got a hold of Mr. Gordon, our transportation connection and a great communicator.   He  was willing to check on the numbers and to contact our contact and see if we could make it work  He gave us reasonable numbers and even ordered trees. I was so glad that I asked for help and that the project was a success!

            We planted our trees within grounds of a small school center. 80 trees planted with 40 girls from the US, Ghana and Hong Kong .  This tree planting helped with the ecological development as well as provide homes for native wildlife and food for the people.  “We cannot trust that the adults alone will save our future. We have to take our future in our own hands.”

            Felix Finkbeiner

Girltopia - Session 7 - How Will We Lead the Way?

"Vision without action is merely a dream.  Action without vision just passes the time.  Vision with action can change the world."  This quote by Joel Barker is in the Adult Guide for the Girltopia Journey. 

It really helped me see what I had been doing was more than "How Will We Lead the Way" -- it was the Vision and the Action...

As the new student member of the City of Pflugerville, Parks and Recreation Commission - I am excited about the possibilites.  Last night was my first meeting -- I had questions and even more I requested that  items be on the next meeting agenda:
1.  Neighborwoods
2.  It's Our Park Day
3.  Mayor's Mile Buddies

I thought you might like to READ my speech that I gave to City Council.

I am Sarah Young and being the Youth Director for Discover Green I feel that I am in a unique position to serve on the Parks and Recreation Commission. And you are in a position to do the best for the city by putting me in the position.

Why? 

Because, I have two years left in high school and a proven interest in the community  

Not looking at this as a way to "pad" my resume before college applications.

In the last three years I have been involved in marking 2525 storm drains. The last 25 where marked in August 2011,

Because my mother has not been able to get city staff to order more drain markers.     

From January - April 2012, Discover Green has held

o    22 events in Pflugerville, with a total of

o    528 volunteers with 425 youth volunteers

o    We have planted 796 trees

o    Picked up 143 bags of trash estimated at 20 pounds per bag

o    We have educated 715 youth as part of educational outreach 400 thru NaturePfest that Discover Green facilitated for the city.

o    1 play house was painted

o    75 trees were mulched

o    And 1467 volunteer service hours  

In the rest of 2012, I am continuing my Ecological Restoration project where so far we have planted 750 trees along trails after removing invasive ligustrum with a group I started “The Trail Tamers”. 

4 years ago – the city started the Neighborwoods project providing street trees to area subdivisions – the city only completed 2 of the 3 promised years – I AM WRITING a GRANT and as part of my Gold Award project and COMPLETING THE 3^rd YEAR! Another 500 street trees.

I am working with Bruce and Jim to run the first “It’s My Park Day” during Family Volunteer Day in November – where each park will be adopted by a group of volunteers who will mulch trees, remove invasives, plant native trees and do a trash pick up!

Finally, I will continue to train other teens thru the Eco-Inspiration Coach training – last year I trained 50 youth – 10 lived and went to school in Pflugerville.

Since the dissolving of the city Arborist position and the minimal use of the Tree Care advisory board, the trees that the city invested in during the last 4 years, need their own Lorax. 

We need someone to speak for the trees; we need someone who will make sure that the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on trees in the last 4 years are not wasted because of it not being a

"priority" to elected and appointed officials.

It's time to make the RIGHT choice for Parks and Rec commission, not just the way it has always been.

In the words of the Lorax,

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.