Volunteer Spotlight: Erika Grasse
Girl Scouting offers moms and daughters a special place to build strong relationships. For Erika Grasse and her daughter, Taylor, that started more than 20 years ago when Taylor became a Girl Scout Daisy. Now, both are lifetime members and can look back at their time shared in Girl Scouting as a very special experience.
As a girl growing up, words that best described Erika were adventurous and mischievous. Today, words describing this woman with a perpetual welcoming smile are loving parent, caring volunteer, lifelong learner and hard worker. If you’ve attended any event hosted by Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast over the past year, then you’ve seen that smile! She regularly volunteers wherever needed at events or workshops hosted by our program team.
While not a Girl Scout during her youth, she is making up for it now. She has been a volunteer for nearly 25 years, starting as a troop helper, then assistant leader, and finally leading her own troop. She has served as a service team member, a delegate and an outdoor facilitator. Today, you are most likely to find her helping at Council program events where she regularly gives of her time. For several summers, she has volunteered to assist at Camp Fury sessions where she has fun alongside girls who are learning from firefighters and first responders. When recalling her volunteer history, she said, “I’m not sure of all the official role titles, I just know I go where I’m needed and where I thought it would be most fun!”
Many years leading a troop have left her with amazing memories that include running events with her older girls for their service unit. “I loved watching our Girl Scouts collaborate on these events,” she said. “Yes, sometimes there was grumbling about it being too many girls, but it always worked out into smiles and memories. Food collecting, Out of the Darkness walks, Salvation Army Christmas stockings, bridging through the levels, being a delegate, and Powderpuff Derbies. One year, we helped organize our service unit’s entry for the Veterans Day Parade. We invited three former Girl Scouts who were also in the military and the ladies talked to our girls about what it meant to them to be Veterans, as well as their experience as Girl Scouts. We made a walking banner with PVC pipe poles, created flags, and placed photos of family members who were active duty in frames that they hung around their necks. When the girls walked past the judging stands, all those officials and adults stood and saluted them!”
From hosting booths at Earth Day celebrations to volunteering to help at NASA’s racing car booth at a special event, Erika ensured the girls were always having fun while helping others. “I continue to volunteer and seek out ways to connect with girls because they need adults in their lives. Just because girls know they can do anything, doesn’t always mean that they try or that they necessarily know where to start to try.”
GSCCC Events Assistant Donna Farnham has loved working alongside Erika. “She is such an asset to our Program team. Camp Fury and so many programs wouldn’t be the quality they are without her. She comes totally prepared and then some. When we have any unplanned time in between activities, she will lead girls in songs or talk about interesting things related to Girl Scouts that keep the girls engaged.”
In addition to helping at program events and leading the Council’s Astronomy Club, these days she also spends time volunteering as an outdoor facilitator. In that role, she is sharing her knowledge and giving other adults the tools they need to work with girls. “Learning through laughter is the best way to overcome the complications of second guessing oneself,” she said.
A retired preschool teacher who now runs a small consulting business, Erika says much of her “free” time does go to volunteering. You can also find her enjoying some of her interests and hobbies; she attends local performances such as musicals, operas, and concerts. She also likes getting outdoors and hiking and camping. “I love to be with people wherever that may be and to listen to their stories. I have an interest in learning everything; you could say people are another one of my hobbies.”
