Spending a snowy Saturday at home is appealing to Mary Schafer, but it's not as important as providing a unique opportunity for a group of young girls.

Schafer, a full-time data manager who lives in Mystic, was one of 11 adult volunteers at a Girl Scouts of Connecticut STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) event held Jan. 23-24 at Camp Pattagansett in East Lyme, with the option of an extra night because of the ice and snow.

The event, Engineers to the Rescue, went off without a hitch despite the inclement weather, with almost all of the 42 girls who registered making it to the camp and up the snow-packed, icy hill to the lodge at Pattagansett, including four women engineers from Electric Boat who supervised the program.

"Weekends, I want to stay home and put my feet up, too," said Schafer, who was there with eight of the 10 girls in her Mystic-based Troop 63815 for the indoor camping and STEM event.

"I'm busy, too, and I know how hard it is, especially on weekends," she said, "but when I see the girls connect, and explore new opportunities, and have fun and learn, when I'm watching them grow ..." it makes it all worth it, she said.

As the leader of three different troops, Schafer can say that authoritatively.

"I have three daughters," she explained, "and what I do for one, I do for all."

As Girl Scouting has evolved in the 21st century, adopting programs like STEM, Girlz R.U.L.E., and Lead Healthy, Live Healthy, it has also flexed its volunteer policy away from all full-time volunteers to a host of ways that people can give an hour, a day, a month, or even a year of their time to assist with girls and programming.

In 2014, more than 38,000 girls participated in Girl Scouting in Connecticut, with support from 17,000 volunteers.

But according to Girl Scouts of Connecticut, more girls would become Scouts if there were more opportunities. Currently, there are 95 girls in eastern Connecticut on waiting lists to get into a Girl Scout troop.

Last year, there were 3,185 troops in the state, and to date this year, just 2,651.

That drop comes in the wake of a report last fall that for the second straight year, youth and adult membership in Girl Scouts has declined sharply.

"We need volunteers desperately," said Michele Brown, service unit manager for Coastal Waters, the new combined Waterford/New London district, which has a waiting list of 20 girls.

Societal changes, including both parents working, more single-parent families and a lack of after-school transportation, have led to a decline in participation, said Brown, who started as a Girl Scout in 1967 at St Mary's School in New London and continued through college.

Then, in 1992, she had a daughter, and when that daughter became a Daisy Scout in kindergarten, Brown became a troop leader.

Decades later she is still involved with Scouting.

Brown said every girl doesn't necessarily want to join a troop, some opting instead to bypass the traditional model of Girl Scouting and participate instead by attending camps, special programs or online activities, or engaging in a specific series of programming, such as astronomy or travel.

All a girl has to do is sign up at Girl Scouts of Connecticut, explore Pathways to Participate on their website, and she's in.

For Kimberly McLean, an electrical engineer at Electric Boat in New London who led the Engineers to the Rescue program at Pattagansett, her path to volunteering started as it does for many others - she signed on as a troop leader when her daughter started Scouting.

A Scout herself when she was a girl, McLean was honored last year with a 20-year membership award.

Now, rather than lead a troop, McLean focuses on introducing girls to math, science and engineering.

"My goal is to give girls an opportunity to do something hands-on and to give them role models to work with," she said.

The gist of Engineers to the Rescue was to engage the Girl Scout Cadets - sixth- to eighth-graders - in a scenario that challenged their ability to work in small teams to design and build implements to save themselves after a hypothetical earthquake.

Through a slideshow and discussion, McLean placed the Scouts at a campsite in Yellowstone National Park, where they are rocked by an earthquake. Fortunately, a group of engineers are camping nearby and able to help the Scouts hone their survival skills by designing and building wind-powered cranks, water filters and adequate shelter.

It's all pretend, except for the brain-storming and problem-solving by the Scouts to figure out how they'll solve each dilemma.

In addition to McLean and the parent volunteers, three young women engineers from Electric Boat volunteered their time for the event.

"I wish we had more programs like this when I was a kid," said Lorelei Schreiver, 27, a native of Sayville, N.Y., who now lives in New London and works as a structural engineer at EB.

She spent a Friday night and Saturday at Pattagansett to help out.

"I want them to think this is cool, and to prod them, give them ideas, and get them excited when they figure it out, when they solve a problem," said the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate.

A former Girl Scout who earned the top Gold Award honor, Schreiver said Scouting was a positive influence in her life.

It's the same for Mystic native and Fitch High School graduate Christine Filosa, 24, who is also a structural engineer at EB and a member of the Society of Women Engineers.

"Younger girls don't understand engineering, but engineering is just problem-solving," said Filosa, who explained it was her passion for math and science that led her to the field.

She's volunteered at other STEM events for Girl Scouts and said, "To see these girls when they get it, it's just awesome. When they realize they can do it, it sticks with them."

Another EB engineer, Hannah Holman, who grew up in Stonington and camped at Pattagansett as a girl, said she enjoys introducing girls to the idea that math, science and problem-solving can be fun and satisfying.

The four women from EB all agreed that helping out with Scouts is beneficial to the young girls, and to them and their field.

"We want them to become excited, and interested, too," said Holman.

Volunteering their services two or three times a year is a great benefit to Scouting, said McLean, who runs additional STEM programs for the Girl Scouts.

"Girls are not necessarily exposed to these career choices," she said. "So getting them into a girls-only environment where they can work and try these things on their own terms, that's critical."

Eleven-year-old Sarah Hurlbutt of Shelton, a participant in the recent program, was thrilled when her team successfully built a wind-powered crank to hoist its food supply, toppled by the earthquake, into a ravine.

"When we put our minds to it, we can do it," she said.

Parent Dan Perreault of Middletown, the only male in the group, said he was happy to accompany his daughter, Haley, and help with the engineering project.

"Just being there for your kids and making sure they have fun, it's so important," he said. "If you're busy with them now, they'll get in a lot less trouble in the future."

Nancy Czarzasty, who brought girls from her troop in Old Saybrook, said Engineers to the Rescue is a unique opportunity.

"This is such a different enrichment activity that doesn't exist elsewhere," she said.

All the adult volunteers said that Scouting is not only fun and educational but that it helps to build solid future citizens.

"Somehow, the whole Girl Scout Law teaches them to be good people," said Schafer, the troop leader from Mystic. "It gives them great opportunities and leadership skills."

a.baldelli@theday.com

Twitter: @annbaldelli

How to help

To volunteer with Girl Scouts, you must:

Be 18 or older

Be a positive role model

Have a flexible attitude and sense of humor

Enroll and maintain current membership with Girl Scouts ($15 annual fee)

Fill out application

Complete background check release online

Provide two personal references

For information, visit gsofct.org