Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Pittsburgh troop leader receives city-wide recognition

Pittsburgh City Council proclaimed Thursday, December 28, 2017, as Elaine Effort Day in the city of Pittsburgh.

Effort was recognized by the city council for her 38-year career at KQV-AM (1410), Pittsburgh's oldest, all-news radio station that went off the air at the end of the 2017. 

Not only has Effort been extremely involved in city matters and events throughout the years, she is a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Her time in Girl Scouting began 26 years ago. As her daughter bridged to the next level of Girl Scouts, Effort worked to continuously recruit volunteers to lead younger girls in the Pittsburgh area. She is currently a leader of troop 52493 in the Pittsburgh East service unit.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Effort was praised by the nine city council members, including compliments from Rev. Ricky Burgess, who called her "a trailblazer, a friend, and a role model," while directing his remarks in part toward young women in the room. She was referred to as the "personification of grace and class," while never getting a fact wrong.

Aftyn Giles, a current troop leader with Effort and one of Effort's previous troop members says "She inspires girls to discover more about friendship, fun, community, compassion, and themselves through the accomplishment of badge work, goal setting, and field trips."

According to Giles, Effort's professional skills impacted the young girls in her troop by teaching them to ask the right questions, dig deeper, dream bigger, think critically, and make good connections. 

"In general, all of us that were in her troop can boast that we are college graduates and in productive careers that center around many of the values that she and Girl Scouts taught," Giles said. "She's a pillar of the community and has helped open doors for us that would have otherwise been closed."

Friends and family joined Effort for the proclamation, presented at council’s last meeting of 2017.

A special congratulations to Elaine from Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania!