The Girl Scout Council of the Florida Panhandle recently released the statement below. The original Northwest Florida Panhandle council was merged with the Tallahassee council in 2009 per the direction of GS USA. The council has struggled financially since then. In 2014, Camp Kolomoki was damaged by flooding and has not been reopened despite promises from the council. In 2018, Hurricane Michael damaged the Panama City Service Center and Camp For All Seasons near Tallahassee. The council has been mismanaging funds for years and now wants to stretch our council all the way over to Jacksonville, FL. Many leaders are already saying that they will quit as a leader and dissolve their troops if this happens. We have a wait list of girls that want to be Girl Scouts but the leaders are stretched to their limits with large troop sizes and little support from the council. Please do not let the Board of Directors and the current leadership of the GSCFP create an even larger disaster. They are using the Hurricane Michael damage as a scapegoat for their mismanagement of funds. 

Email sent out on Jan 17th...

Hello Everyone,

As you likely know, the Girl Scout Council of the Florida Panhandle, Inc. has encountered a series of financial challenges resulting in part from the devastation Hurricane Michael unleashed upon our communities last year. At this time, the board and executive leadership of the Girl Scout Council of the Florida Panhandle are making every effort to explore options available to us to ensure that you, and the girls you serve, continue to benefit from the one-of-a-kind Girl Scout experience that together we offer girls, helping them to go on to make our world a better place. Delivering on our mission is and always will be our most important priority at Girl Scouts. In the weeks to come, we will be working to gather feedback and insights from you, our key stakeholders, about the best way to move forward and ensure that we accomplish this aim. Every option is on the table, including joining with the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council (Jacksonville), in order to ensure we can deliver a seamless experience to you and the girls you serve. Thank you for your commitment to Girl Scouts, and for your partnership in the days ahead. 

Raslean M. Allen, MSM

We, as the leaders, registered adults, and registered Girl Scouts are asking for the following:

1. Each SU gets to vote on what happens to them. Information should be presented on what the options are (NWFL council by itself again, merging with Mobile, etc.)
2. An external audit of the GSCFP finances should be completed for at least the last 7 years and the leaders should be able to view the results in their entirety.
3. A complete line by line accounting statement of money that came in for Camp Kolomoki (Destin Desserts, donations, etc.) & Camp For All Seasons and money spent on Camp Kolomoki & Camp For All Seasons will be released to the leaders.
4. The bylaws are not currently accessible on the website so we are unclear on what the Board of Directors actually do. The bylaws and any associated paperwork must be publicly accessible. 
5. An explanation of why our council has most of the money going to salary and yet at least one camp (Kolomoki) prior to Hurricane Michael sat unusable for now 5 years.