My son and older daughter spent some time in Scouts here in Ottawa. It always made sense to me that the local scout groups share their resources in a common location.
All their camp gear, along with supplies for outdoor games, fire starting equipment, wagons, large signage, promotional material – it’s all sitting in a shared, rented storage locker.
They have a volunteer who maintains inventory and signs out required items to the local troops.
If you’re a Girl Guide leader here in Ottawa, your mind may have just been blown. It amazes me that, in comparison to the Scouts, our units are completely isolated from each other when it comes to resources.
As a Guide leader, I don’t even know the names of other Guide leaders in my immediate community – let alone what content they’ve been covering and what awesome stuff they might have. Maybe they have a great kit that would jump start a whole meeting idea for me. Maybe they have worksheets and games that would supplement a meeting I’m already planning. Maybe they have camping supplies to share that would save our unit time and money.
I have several things I’ve used in my unit that I built from scratch – not knowing if no one else in town has such an item, or if every other unit does, and all I had to do was ask for one.
So I decided to create this database – a searchable place for us to list what we’ve got, and hopefully find what we need.
My goals are to help us cut down on the work we are doing and stop re-inventing the wheel every time; to foster a stronger community of guiders here in town; and to spark ideas and conversations as we see what other units have been up to.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey!
