The Girl Scouts-Diamonds Texarkana office is moving from its current location on Arkansas Boulevard to the HandsOn Texarkana volunteer center at 1915 Olive St., Texarkana, Texas.
The move will be effective July 1.
"While our home in Texarkana has served us very well through the years, it is no longer fiscally responsible for our council to remain in that location. The 6,000-plus square foot space continues to be expensive to maintain, is much too large for our staff needs and is in need of significant updates," Dawn Prasifka, Girl Scouts- Diamonds president/CEO said in a press release.
"The property that we were in on Arkansas Boulevard we did not own. The board has been in two year investigation on what is the best place to serve girls in southwest region. That office serves the entire southwest region, not just Texarkana girls. When we put the dollars to it, it wasn't a wise use to purchase the property and renovate it," she said. "It would've been a minimum of $250,000 investment just to start renovating the building to get it to a place where it was viable for the girls and volunteers."
The new location includes meeting spaces for service unit and troop activities.
"They're going to provide meeting space for our volunteers, provide a program space for our girls and an outdoor space for our girls all free of charge," she said.
The spaces are available at no charge but are subject to availability. To reserve a space, email [email protected] or call 800-632-6894 ext. 6757.
Being housed inside the Collins Home with HandsOn is a great match.
"There's a wonderful synergy with HandsOn. In Girl Scouts, our mission is to teach girls how to work within the community and HandsOn Texarkana provides an environment that teaches volunteerism so it's a great partnership," Prasifka said.
Allison Lee, volunteer manager, will have an office at the new location but there will not be regular open office hours. To contact Allison, call 800-632-6894 ext. 2017 or email [email protected].
"All of the Girl Scouts- Diamonds staff members who work in the Southwest Region will still be in service to our volunteers, girls and parents in the area," Prasifka said in the release.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today service units are invited to come to the Arkansas Boulevard property, where the remaining supplies and fixtures will be distributed. Access will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.