{"id":184042,"date":"2026-03-09T11:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T11:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184042\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T11:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T11:53:12","slug":"95-year-old-lake-worth-woman-honored-with-girl-scouts-lifetime-service-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184042\/","title":{"rendered":"95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Lake Worth woman who spent decades helping young girls build confidence and leadership skills through Girl Scouts<\/a> is being recognized for a lifetime of service.<\/p>\n

Ninety-five-year-old Marilyn VanVleet received the Lifetime Service Award <\/a>from the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida<\/a>, an honor recognizing volunteers who have made extraordinary contributions to the organization and its mission.<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

VanVleet said being involved in Girl Scouts has been one of the most meaningful parts of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirl Scouts has meant a lot to me, and I\u2019m so glad that I got involved,\u201d VanVleet said.<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

Her connection to Girl Scouts spans nearly her entire life. She first joined as a Brownie as a child and later served as a troop leader for two decades alongside her late husband, Dave.<\/p>\n

She credits her husband\u2019s involvement as an important part of the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the big thing was having my husband so involved with this, because the girls just adored him,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cHe was so good at leadership, and that was something I could not do alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

During those years, VanVleet helped lead troops on memorable adventures \u2014 including hiking trips, canoeing excursions through Georgia and the Ozarks, camping across the country, and even traveling to the Bahamas.<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

Today, many of the girls she once mentored remain close, sometimes gathering for reunions years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing is how they love each other and get together,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cI think they remember for years when we were active and doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida CEO Lisa Johnson said VanVleet\u2019s dedication has had a lasting impact on the lives of many young women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that girls who thrive become women who thrive, and women who thrive create communities that thrive,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHer ability to impact so many girls in such positive ways means communities around the world are benefiting from the leadership she helped inspire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

“When we think about Girl Scouts, we think about service, really being at the heart of the organization. Every one of our girls participates in opportunities to give back to their own communities in meaningful ways. Mrs. V talks a lot about adventure, and so that may be something that draws girls together, that opportunity to build an adventurous journey together, but also being courageous, being kind,” said Johnson. <\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

“One of the aspects of Girl Scouts is being in a safe space to try, fail, try again, and know that you can be brave, that you can fail and then still succeed. So, it’s one of the tenants of Girl Scouts to make sure that girls know they can do that,” said Johnson. <\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

VanVleet said one of the most important lessons she hopes girls take from Girl Scouts is to embrace new experiences and friendships.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing friends is the main thing \u2014 being willing to try different things and being willing to do adventurous things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"95-year-old95-year-old Lake Worth woman honored with Girl Scouts Lifetime Service Award. (Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida){ }<\/p>\n

Her recognition comes as Girl Scouts across the country celebrate the start of Girl Scout Week.<\/p>\n

Looking back on decades of mentoring young girls, VanVleet said her greatest joy is seeing them grow into strong, confident women. Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida leaders echo that, saying her legacy will continue inspiring generations of Girl Scouts for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Lake Worth woman who spent decades helping young girls build confidence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-184042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}