GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Flipping through memories in her scrapbooks, Kim Mast felt thankful.
"I've been very lucky," she said.
She's been involved with Boy Scouts since her son asked her to tag along on a hiking trip when he was 15.
"You're so far out of your comfort zone you can't even see straight," Mast remembered feeling. "But he's 15 and he wants me, so I say yes."
A few years later, girls were allowed to join the Boy Scouts for the first time ever and Mast stepped in to lead as the scoutmaster for Troop 345G out of Cascade and Ada.
What started as a group of less than 10 girls is, today, the second largest all-girls troop in the state with 43 in total.
"A lot of the girls we started with were sisters of scouts," said Mast. "So they had spent years watching their brothers do the things, have the fun, talk about the stuff."
Mast is excited to see the passion grow, watching girls take an interest in things previously looked at as only for boys.
"The girls like the knives and fire just as much as the boys did and they get just as excited when they get to do it," she said.
A feeling she's happy to share with her scouts.
"It wasn't about, like, a feminism thing or a girls versus boys thing," said Mast. "It was giving my daughters the same opportunities my son had."
Now, all three of her daughters and her son are all Eagle Scouts and she herself earned the Silver Beaver Award, given for exceptional for service to the Boy Scouts.
Looking back on it all, she hopes other families will take the leap like she did.
"It's a great place to learn about yourself and to learn how you can serve your community and the things you can do," said Mast.
After five years in charge, she is stepping down from her role as scoutmaster later this year, feeling it's time to pass on to new leadership after all of her original troops earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
She won't be leaving the scouts entirely though and plans to stay heavily involved in recruiting efforts. If you are interested in learning more about the Boy Scouts, click here.
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