At the age of six, Dawn Burgess-Krop was held accountable for taking care of her family while her mother was ill and her father had to travel a great deal for his job. Being the oldest sibling came with a weight of responsibility that made her into the woman she is today.
One experience she recalls fondly from childhood was volunteering in a pilot program for Head Start; it shaped her future by helping her to understand the desperation of poverty.
As a child and family therapist at Community Behavioral Services, Burgess-Krop has worked with children who are adopted out of foster care, children who are abused and children who are experiencing loss or divorce.
A key part of her life has been volunteering, especially for the Girl Scouts. After she was a troop leader for more than 10 years with her daughter’s troop, she also led a hearing-impaired group for four years to give hearing-impaired girls the opportunity to have the Girl Scout experience.
Burgess-Krop has also volunteered as a Guardian ad Litem and served on the Adoption Placement Panel through the Department for Children and Families. She was “Volunteer of the Year” at Congregation B’nai Isreal while serving on the preschool board and the board of directors.
Currently, she is president of the Jewish Council of North Central Florida, serves on the advisory board for the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters program, is a member of the League of Women Voters and is a member and precinct committee co-chairperson of the Alachua County Democrat Executive Committee.
Throughout the years, she has come to understand the importance of being involved with children of all ages and circumstances.
“The wisdom and purity of children never fails to inspire me,” she said. “They have a sense of fairness and sensitivity to the feelings of others that is easy to lose touch with in our adult lives.”
Q: What was your favorite part about being a Girl Scout leader?
A: I have observed that you become a Girl Scout leader to make a difference in shaping girl’s lives, but it is you who also becomes transformed. I had the opportunity to experience many things I missed in my childhood: camping, exploring the outdoors and appreciating sisterhood.