Volunteer Spotlight: Kathy Blanarik

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is honoring the people who keep our community thriving, this month and every month.  

Kathy Blanarik has been leading with integrity and care for fifty years, and she has no plans on stopping. A longtime volunteer in the Freedom service unit, Kathy has served as a service unit manager and a troop leader, and her impact is felt in volunteers, Girl Scouts, and community members alike.  

Throughout her time leading, a lot has changed—new technologies, new ways of going about things, council structure changes—and Kathy has made sure to hold strong in her values and strategies while adapting with the times with ease.  

She has made sure that through it all, she is leading by example. Whether it’s representing Girl Scouts respectfully and professionally in public or planning meetings and trips with her troop or service unit, Kathy is always the first to take on the task. Her kindness and compassion are also traits that rub off on everyone around her—Kathy is known to make sure that even the quietest girl in the back of the room is getting what she needs. She recognizes ability and strength in all the girls she leads, guiding them to understand what makes them special.  

Kathy’s commitment to leadership has inspired fifty years worth of women to take on challenges of their own, ensuring they feel supported every step of the way. She has also connected with other volunteers, stepping up for them in times of crisis and the good times, too.  

At the annual meeting on April 18th,  Kathy was honored with the Pearl Award for her volunteer service over the years.  Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania appreciates all of her hard work and dedication, so a big thank you to Kathy and all that she has done is most certainly in order.  

“From reusing supplies and planning affordable activities to teaching girls how to budget cookie proceeds, she modeled stewardship long before sustainability became a buzzword. Her careful planning ensured opportunities for all girls, not just those with means.” 

Donna Goberish, Fellow Volunteer

Volunteer Spotlight: Kate Freemer

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is honoring the people who keep our community thriving, this month and every month.  

While Kate Freemer is currently a volunteer for the Brockway Service Unit, she has been a Girl Scout in every capacity since she was a child. In fact, her passion for service has only grown in her almost 40 years with the organization.  

Upon graduating high school in 1996, Kate knew immediately that she wanted to become a Girl Scout volunteer—she hit the ground running at Slippery Rock University as a dedicated helper with the campus troop.  

After her graduation, she continued volunteering, serving as a troop leader for her daughters’ troops and a service unit manager for the Brockway Service Unit. For Kate, it really comes down to her love of Girl Scouting. Her dedication to the organization and the young women that she helps keeps her going, and it is something that she feels will continue on long into her future. The community support in her area is also something that keeps her coming back.  

Girl Scouts has also provided opportunities for Kate that she would never have had otherwise—ever since childhood, she dreamed of going to Juliette Gordon Low’s birthplace. When she visited during her senior year of high school, it moved her to tears. Now, through her volunteering and her daughters’ involvement, she is able to go back again and see her daughters have the same exciting experience.   

When asked what she hopes the girls she works with will learn from her, Kate said she is passionate about helping them achieve their dreams. 

“I want each girl to learn from me that each girl is their own person. That each girl can be who they want to be when she is older. No dream is too small; reach for the stars. Go after their goals. Use their voice, volunteer, [and] stand up for what you believe in.” 

Volunteer Spotlight: Charlene Filsaime

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is honoring the people who keep our community thriving, this month and every month.  

Charlene Filsaime has been a Girl Scout volunteer for over a decade. Currently, she is a volunteer in the Penn Wood Hills service unit. She has served as a service unit cookie manager, fall product manager, awards coordinator, delegate, troop leader, and member of the Troop Mentor Network.  

A Girl Scout herself in her youth in McKeesport, Charlene began volunteering when the after-school program troop her daughter was a part of could no longer be continued—the parents wanted to keep it going, so it transitioned into a community troop.  

“Don’t be afraid to say you can’t do it all! Ask for help. Publicly thank parents or anybody who does anything to help. Saying thank you and acknowledging encourages volunteers. Always take a step back to look at what you are doing!” 

For Charlene, a huge part of being a volunteer is uplifting girls to be confident in their own abilities and skills. She believes that good leadership lies in making sure every girl’s voice is heard. In her troop, she makes sure to rotate assignments so every girl gets their turn to lead and try out new skills. From her perspective, a good troop leader should offer guidance and a foundation while letting them make their own choices.  

A turning point experience in her volunteer journey was going to the national convention and getting to see how important Girl Scouts is across the country. She says that getting to see the excitement on the national level was something that really inspired her in her own leadership.  

As for advice for new leaders, Charlene thinks it’s all about community and asking for help when you need it. “Don’t be afraid to say you can’t do it all! Ask for help. Publicly thank parents or anybody who does anything to help. Saying thank you and acknowledging encourages volunteers. Always take a step back to look at what you are doing!” 

Volunteer Spotlight: Mary Ann McSwigan

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month, Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is honoring the people who keep our community thriving, this month and every month.  

For Mary Ann McSwigan, a commitment to Girl Scouts is something that lasts a lifetime. With both volunteer experience and her own time as a Girl Scout combined, Mary Ann has been involved with Girl Scouts for 50 years.  

Like most people, Mary Ann got into Girl Scouts as an adult when her daughter signed up to be a Brownie. The troop needed volunteers to lead, and she took the opportunity. Starting off as a troop leader, Mary Ann has been the service unit manager for the Brentwood Service Unit for 37 years. She also serves on the Adult Award Committee and as a Council Delegate.  

“Always remember that Girl Scouting should be fun, not a test or a competition.”

Mary Ann McSwigan

Over her time volunteering, she has seen generations of girls become Girl Scouts and go on to do great things. To her, something that started out as time to spend with her daughter has grown into friends who feel like family and the ability to make a positive change in the lives of the young women around her. As someone who has been involved in the organization for so long, there is a lot of change, which can be challenging. However, Mary Ann’s dedication and spirit have kept her flexible and ready for anything—something that has made her all the more successful.  

If there’s one piece of advice Mary Ann has for new leaders or people getting involved in Girl Scouts, it’s the lesson of patience and pride in what you do. 

“Always remember that Girl Scouting should be fun, not a test or a competition. It’s not school.” She says, “It’s a chance for girls to make friends and just be themselves while learning how to make the world a better place for themselves and others.” 

Sisterhood and Experiences Grow in Service Unit 3605

For Service Unit 3605 out of Erie County, sisterhood goes beyond just girls—volunteers lean on each other so that everyone gets what they need, and, as a result, experiences are easy to come by and rewarding.

For service unit manager Kayla Gabbard, it’s important to view the service unit as a collaborative effort. She says that the way the volunteers interact with each other encourages a similar sisterhood in the girls. To her, these volunteers keep the service unit strong and able to do so much.

“By tunneling into some of the Girl Scout promise with concepts such as using resources wisely, treating others with respect, being a sister to every Girl Scout, and others, [we can] all come together to enhance experiences, and make opportunities easier to provide for the girls.”

Girls in this Erie County service unit have accomplished a great deal, from serving their community to taking fun trips and learning lifesaving skills. They have learned about animals and animal care through the Erie Humane Society, explored the planetarium, and gone camping.

The girls in the area also have had the outstanding opportunity to learn lifesaving skills through the local fire department. They learned basic first aid and CPR, even practicing on a mannequin, and toured the inside of an ambulance to see how it provides lifesaving patient care.

Last year, their local Brownie and Junior troop was working on their Animals badges and learning to care for pets, so they hosted a teddy bear clinic for the younger troops. Some of the younger girls loved it so much that they are now planning one of their own!

In the upcoming year, the girls and volunteers in Service Unit 3605 have big plans to grow in sisterhood and experiences, and they are excited to do it together.

For Troop 60187 in Upper St. Clair, Girl Scout Cookie season is an opportunity to build skills and sisterhood not just among peers, but with younger Girl Scouts, too!

This Allegheny County troop has a yearly mentorship program where older Girl Scouts mentor a younger Girl Scouts Daisies and show them the ropes of cookie season. Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania spoke with Kara B., a Cadette who has spent two cookie seasons in the mentor program, and she had to tell you in her own words what the program means to her.

Be a Cookie Mentor This Year (It’s Fun!)

By: Kara B.
Girl Scout Cadette

My name is Kara, and I am a Girl Scout Cadette with seven years of cookie-selling experience. 

Two years ago, during the 2024 cookie season, I mentored a first-year Girl Scout Daisy who had never sold cookies. It was a fun experience, but also helpful, as most Girl Scout activities are. Me and my (temporary) apprentice went door-to-door in her neighborhood, alternating who sold cookies. I went first, to show her how it’s done, and then I let her try. When it was her turn, I gave her some tips, then stepped back to let her sell. Each time, she got more confident and better at answering questions. And each time, I was proud. In between the houses, I would give her more tips based on how things were going. 

The second time I was a cookie mentor, I went with two Girl Scouts who live around the corner from me. They were nervous, and their troop leader asked if any experienced Girl Scouts would help them go door-to-door. Whenever I’m asked to help a younger girl, I agree. Teaching others helps me feel prepared and confident, too. And it’s not just Daisies who need some help. Brownies sometimes need guidance, or Juniors who are shy can benefit from going with a more outgoing friend to help them get some sales and build their courage up. 

Lots of younger Girl Scouts are excited about the idea of a middle school or high school girl helping them learn the speaking skills they need, but sometimes, very few older girls sign up to be cookie mentors. Maybe they don’t have a lot of free time, or simply feel like they won’t enjoy going door-to-door like they used to when they were younger. But here’s the secret: helping someone else makes everything more fun! It feels great to know that I can teach things I learned when I was a younger Girl Scout, and that their troop will use cookie money to do many of the same activities that I remember doing with my troop. 

I think that more older girls should offer to be cookie mentors—not just because it helps the younger Girl Scouts, but also because it helps us. It improves our leadership skills, and besides, going door-to-door is a lot more fun with a buddy. Even when it’s a younger buddy! Also, it will give you a sense of pride when you see that you helped someone else succeed. Some girls (me included) have confidence in their own skills, but don’t often get to feel the pride or impact of teaching someone else. Being a cookie mentor has been a great way for me to feel that pride, even though I’m still young, too. 

If there’s not an official cookie mentor program in your service unit, consider this your sign to start one this year!

Volunteer Spotlight: Tanya Schwab

For Tanya Schwab, prioritizing her Girl Scouts has been the hallmark of her 15 years as a dedicated volunteer.

Tanya has been a volunteer since 2008, starting as a troop leader in Westmoreland County. She has been an associate cookie manager, associate service unit manager, and camp trainer.

She first signed up to volunteer as a troop leader for her daughters’ education. “I was looking for another opportunity to be able to educate them because I was doing traditional homeschooling. I thought that Girl Scouts would be an awesome way to be able to do that and do things in the community that go toward their homeschool education, and it definitely fulfilled a lot of that for my girls. I was just taking a lot of other Girl Scouts along with us as I was doing it with my own girls.”

For 15 years, she has always focused on the Girl Scouts. “My motto has been for all those years is ‘it’s all about the girls,’” she says.

Tanya continues to volunteer year after year because she sees how impactful her work is. Through her, the girls have learned how to lead and celebrate each other, and they have gotten comfortable with problem-solving.

“I will never forget the summer camp where I sat at a campfire with a leader. I remember her saying that for some of those girls in that troop, this was their summer vacation. Going away for 48 hours to summer camp was their vacation because their families couldn’t take them on a traditional summer vacation. Those are the moments you realize why you’re doing what you’re doing.” Tanya says. The magnitude of that moment really changed the way she thought about her role, and only encouraged her to make these experiences even better for her troop.

I remember the leaders and I got together, and I told them, ‘If we go home, we’re teaching these girls to quit.’ The weather was kind of rough for 24 hours, but we knew it wouldn’t be for the next 48 hours. I said, ‘I don’t really want to do that,’ and they were in agreement with me. And the rest of the trip was fine. The girls had a blast, and to this day, the stories they will tell you . . .

Tanya Schwab

Through troop camping trips, Tanya and her girls have had so many growing and leaning opportunities. They get to learn real-world skills based on their experience. Her favorite memory is of a camping trip to Assateague Island. “We had 23 or 24 of us. Our trip didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to because we had terrible weather and had to move things inland for a day. We got to see the horses, and thankfully, we had no run-ins with the horses eating our food. That was my favorite trip.” Tanya saw the stormy weather as a teaching opportunity for the Girl Scouts, keeping their character and growth in mind.

Tanya says that volunteering is nothing short of rewarding when she sees the Girl Scouts learn and grow. “Every volunteer needs to figure out what their niche is. There are so many ways an adult can help. It’s work, but it’s so much fun, and the awards you get from it, from seeing what the Girl Scouts accomplish, it’s great. It’s wonderful to see that,” she says.


Tanya’s strength and courage continue to inspire and encourage both Girl Scouts and fellow volunteers, and her impact on the Girl Scout community is truly felt throughout her community!

Volunteer Spotlight: Jennifer Mooney

Leading Girl Scout strong in her first year as a volunteer, Jennifer Mooney loves giving
back to her community!

In her first year as a Girl Scout troop leader, Jennifer Mooney has found her passion in
community service and leadership. “It’s been a whirlwind of a year,” she says. Located in Clearfield County, Jennifer leads a multi-level group of Daisies and Brownies. Since completing her first year, she now has more confidence in her abilities to lead and teach her Girl Scout troop.

After her own year of growing and learning in leadership and experience, she has had the joy of seeing her Girl Scouts grow for their first times.

“They are definitely more outgoing, more confident in themselves. They’re really going out of their way to be helpful to each other and to others,” she recalls.

She wants to encourage other new volunteers to never give up, because it is very rewarding. “It takes a lot of energy and motivation and time,” but, she says, “I’m not a quitter.”

Her favorite memory is from Oct. 31, Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low’s birthday. She remembers, “We made homemade ice cream to do that, along with a piñata. We just had a little birthday party at our troop level.” Her memory is as sweet as the homemade vanilla ice cream they made!

“They are definitely more outgoing, more confident in themselves. They’re really going out of their way to be helpful to each other and to others.”

Jennifer Mooney

To encourage her Girl Scouts to give back to the community, Jennifer has organized two meaningful troop projects this year. The first project this summer will be to improve the local cleanliness of one of Pennsylvania’s state parks. She says, “We are going to do a community service project at one of the state parks, where we are going to help them clean up for the spring and summer season.”

The second project is a community collection project to acquire donated supplies and toiletries and give them to local veterans. “There’s a VA clinic that we will be dropping the supplies off with,” she says. “In this day and age, it is so hard to find people to volunteer and give back to their community. That’s one thing that I hope I can get across to them. That’s so important,” she says about her Girl Scouts.

Jennifer enjoys giving back to her community. Through the Girl Scouts, she hopes that she can continue to teach her Girl Scouts a strong love for community service, too.

Volunteer Spotlight: Angela Deemer

For more than 25 years, Angela Deemer has served as a troop leader with Girl Scouts. Her roles have included service unit manager for eight years and MagNut manager for her local troops. Currently, she leads three troops in Clearfield County.

Initially, she joined Girl Scouts because she wanted to bond with her daughters. “I had started whenever my daughters were little. I’m not a sporty kind of person. It was an extracurricular activity that I could do with them. And I have always believed in all of the Girl Scout values, and I wanted [my daughters] to experience them,” she says.

Angela spent quality time with her daughters through their Girl Scout troop’s experiences. When her two daughters were Cadettes, they made two trips to Washington, D.C., where they visited monuments, the Pentagon, and the White House. Angela says about her Girl Scouts, “They really understood a lot. There was a lot for them at the museums and fun things for them to see, but I think they did fully understand a lot of the monuments and the memorials and why they were there.”

It’s a very rewarding volunteer job to do. It’s rewarding to make a difference in a girl’s life.

—Angela Deemer

Angela’s advice for new volunteers is to work with the resources they have available in their county. For her county, she says, “We are in a rural community, so we don’t have all of the things they have in the big cities. The resources—whenever it tells you to do things for a badge—we don’t have those resources. I always say to them, as long as you do it with the badge in mind and with what we have available, that’s what matters. Do it in the spirit of the badge.”

As a service unit manager in a rural area, Angela organizes many of the Girl Scout events for the unit’s 10 troops. Together, their troops have yearly events, from lock-ins at the YMCA to Thanksgiving day meals to fishing fun days for Girl Scout families. She says, “We’ve tried to do anything the girls would have fun with.”

She recommends, “Have fun. Don’t stress over earning so many badges or doing everything the exact correct way.” Volunteers should “see what the girls like to do and do those things and just have fun,” she says.

After her more than 25 years with Girl Scouts, Angela says, “It’s a very rewarding volunteer job to do. It’s rewarding to make a difference in a girl’s life. I’ve even had a couple of [Girl Scouts] that I have their daughters now. It’s just nice to know that they look back at things with fond memories…just knowing you made a difference in somebody’s life.” Angela plans to continue making a difference in the lives of the next generation of Girl Scouts.

Volunteer Spotlight: Amanda Bradley

In Beaver County, Amanda Bradley is keeping Girl Scouting fun, girl-led, and engaging for her Girl Scouts!

Amanda Bradley has been a Girl Scout troop leader in Beaver County since 2015, and for nine years, she served in several service unit roles. For five years, she served as camp director for Awesome Pawsome Day Camp.

In 2015, Amanda joined Girl Scouts for her daughter. “I thought it would be something fun to do with my daughter.” She humorously adds, “And having an in-house cookie dealer was an added bonus.”

Her favorite thing about volunteering is “Watching the girls learn and grow throughout the years. It’s amazing how they have changed since they were five.”

“Spending time with my girls and watching them grow throughout the years has been the most rewarding experience of my life. And watching my daughter learn and grow based on what she has experienced in Girl Scouts has been priceless.”

—Amanda Bradley

Her favorite memory is from “Mommy and Me camp at Camp Redwing, summer 2016. It was so magical. A close second would be the Winter Memories camp at [Camp] Hawthorne Ridge.”

In her ten years of service, Amanda has overcome many struggles in her role as troop leader, but she has found that adapting to what the Girl Scouts want to do helps keep it interesting.

Amanda’s motto to “Keep it simple and focus on fun,” has preserved engagement in her troops. “If the girls have fun, they will never leave you,” she says.

She loves the opportunities of the Girl Scout program, and she hopes to teach her Girl Scouts an appreciation for the world and its potential. “I hope they have learned to see the world for all its possibilities. I always wanted to expose them to things they may never have had a chance to experience at home. I also hope they have learned how to take care of each other and our world in general.”

About her years in service, Amanda says, “Spending time with my girls and watching them grow throughout the years has been the most rewarding experience of my life. And watching my daughter learn and grow based on what she has experienced in Girl Scouts has been priceless. Becoming a troop leader has been one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I would make it again without a single hesitation.”