Karen Aven had been working with Girl Scouts for more than 15 years when she decided the Girl Scout Circle of Friendship was missing a link. Aven wanted to expand the circle to include the daughters of immigrant farm workers, but the organization was not interested. Aven decided to reach out on her own.

Although she spoke no Spanish and had never been in a farm workers' camp, she bought games, toys, and Scout cookies on her own and headed out to a migrant camp with her daughter and a friend. At first, residents were suspicious, but Aven persisted, keeping the program growing with her own money and time.

After some months,  workers' sons were getting involved as well as their daughters. In the first year, the program grew to three migrant labor camps; within 5 years there were 23 programs serving more than 800 children in two Washington State counties—with full official backing from the Girl Scouts.

Aven believes her program was the first of its kind, bringing her calls from all over the US requesting information. She is now working to take the program into Tribal communities.