A Guide’s Group in Airdrie is looking to raise money to go on a much-anticipated trip through the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 2022.  

Denise Cruz, Contact Guider and Area Commissioner for the 3rd Airdrie Guides, says the plan is to take the girls on a passenger train.  

“We’ll depart from here, go to Banff through Jasper, then we're going to sleep on the train. We’ll arrive in Vancouver where we’ll spend two days before flying home.” 

The trip adds up to roughly $3,000 per person but Cruz says they’re getting a large group discount. Altogether, 22 people would be taking part. The entire unit consists of 30 girls but, according to Cruz, they had to limit it to a set group of girls who were willing to commit for a certain amount of time. The planning process takes 2 years, from idea conception through the fundraising to the end goal.  

“The idea, optimally, is to keep costs as low as possible for families. We’ll have to do some fancy footwork to raise money to keep costs low.” Cruz adds, “The bulk of our fundraising comes from cookie sales.” 

To donate bottles, Cruz says there are a couple of ways to participate. 

“One of my leaders or I can pick them up if people have a hard time getting around. Or, alternatively, we do have accounts at both bottle depots in Airdrie. You walk in, tell them they’re for 3rd Airdrie Guides, and they take care of the rest. You don’t even have to stick around to sort them, you just leave the bags there for donation.” 

Because the price of the trip is so high, the 3rd Airdrie Guides has decided to run a clothing drive alongside the bottle drive to help funnel money into the trip. 

The trip acts as a right-of-passage to send girls off to Pathfinders, the next level of The Girl Guides. 

“A lot of us came from Brownies and Sparks so some of us have known then girls for seven years. This is our way of sending them off to Pathfinders and saying our goodbyes.” Cruz says. In 3rd Airdrie Guides, the ages range from 9 to 12. In Pathfinders the age range is 12 to 14 years old. 

Cruz admits it’s a scary task taking a bunch of kids away from their families for a week but has confidence in the trust the parents have built with Guides along with the experience with the girls knowing they can handle it.  

Long trips like this one happen often in Girl Guide’s but not usually for the Guide level, according to Cruz. She says Pathfinders and Rangers fundraise for trips more often because they’re older but with younger groups such as Guides, parents and leaders are more hesitant to take them places.  

According to Cruz, who’s been guiding in Airdrie for 10 years, there are about 20 Guide Groups in the Airdrie/Beiseker area.