Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Aug 28/02) - The Girl Guides of Canada movement in Rankin Inlet is looking for a little help from its friends.

Guiding is gearing up for another year in the hamlet and area commissioner Carla Punshon is putting out the call for women to get involved as leaders.

The commissioner hopes to attract 10 or more leaders to the fold this year.

Punshon says the Girl Guides movement is changing its approach in recruiting leaders.

She says these days, adults are looking for more part time and casual positions then what they have in the past.

"We work on a leader-to-guider ratio, depending on the age of the children," informs Punshon.

"The Sparks are aged five and six, so we need one leader for every five children enrolled.

In Pathfinders, we only need one leader for every eight children enrolled.

"So, depending on the size of the group, we need between two to five leaders present every week."

With the desire for more part-time commitment comes the need for a larger resource pool to draw upon.

Guiding troops are now using job-sharing, part-time commitment and rotations, rather than having the same leaders present every week.

The approach adds a touch of variety for the girls, and it is hoped the shift will help entice more adults to get involved with the Guides.

Punshon says in this day and age, jobs, children and family commitments prevent many women from being able to attend meetings every week.

"That can scare a lot of people away because they don't have that kind of time. So, we're trying to promote casual and part-time positions to attract more women and show them being a leader isn't such a scary thing to do."

Registration for the new guiding year will begin shortly and meetings should start taking place in September.

In Rankin, Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders are offered.

"We're still trying senior branches. We had two members this past year, but, unfortunately, they both moved. I really hope more women come out and get involved this year," she says.

"Being a Girl Guide leader produces memories that will last you a lifetime."